Self-love is crucial to living a fulfilling life. Since everything in your life stems from your beliefs, how you view yourself, and how you feel about yourself it’s important to prioritize habits that contribute to your self-esteem and help you grow as a person.
One of the most important relationships you have in life is with yourself. Self-love has a huge impact on your mental health and well-being. You can’t fully enjoy life or all the beautiful things it has to offer if you’re not making yourself a priority. When you don’t feel worthy, you can’t fuel your passions or love anyone else fully.
Why Is Self-Love Important?
It may be difficult to put yourself first. You may think of it as selfish especially when you have a lot to do, but it’s not. If you’re not implementing self-love and self-care habits into your daily routine, it may take a toll on your life and can also affect your self-esteem.
Whether you’re single, dating, or married, it’s imperative to love yourself. Building your confidence and knowing your self-worth helps improve the quality of life and relationships.
Honestly, I’m always looking for new ways to spend time with myself. By doing so, I’m much happier, more confident, and able to enjoy life to its full potential.
Instead of depending on others to make you feel good about yourself, start pouring into yourself and giving yourself the love you wish to receive from others.
Here are 30 Self-Love Habits To Start Today
30 Self-Care Habits To Start Today
How To Start Practicing Self-Love
1. Make Yourself Healthy Meals
Instead of ordering takeout, make a healthy dish. What you consume can affect how you feel mentally and physically. For instance, if I eat too much junk food, I’ll feel bloated, sluggish, and unmotivated. With that being said, limit the amount of junk food you eat and resort to healthier options.
2. Start Appreciating The Little Things In Life
Practicing gratitude and appreciating the little things in life is always good for the soul. When something good happens in your life, celebrate it! Instead of getting caught up on the things that didn’t meet your expectations, appreciate what you’ve already accomplished.
3. Create A Bedtime Routine For Better Sleep
There’s a quote that says, “Early to bed, early to rise, makes you healthy, wealthy, and wise.” Ensuring that you give your body the rest it needs allows you to wake up earlier and accomplish more during the day. Be sure to get plenty of rest. Therefore, you’ll wake up feeling energized to take on the day. If you need sleeping tips to improve your sleep quality, then you can check out this post on how to get the Best Sleep Ever.
4. Start Taking Walks In Nature
Going for walks is always therapeutic for me. There’s nothing like enjoying nature and enjoying the beauty of God’s creations. Therefore, make sure you’re showing yourself some love and getting your body to move around daily. This is essential to practicing self-love. Walks in nature allow you to clear your mind and help you feel great both physically and mentally.
5. Journal To Declutter Your Mind
Journaling is a great way to release those negative emotions that you may be carrying around. Writing down those unwanted feelings is a healthy way to allow yourself to get a new perspective. Journaling daily is great for your mental and emotional health. If you want to start journaling but don’t where to start, here’s a guide to “The Best Guided Journals.”
6. Learn How To Say “No” (Without Explanations)
Saying “no” to things that don’t deserve your time and energy is an important way of practicing self-love. If you’re constantly saying yes to things you don’t want to do, it’s time to start putting yourself first! It’s okay to say “no” rather than trying to please others. If there is one thing you can control, it’s what you commit to.
7. Give Yourself A Massage
Massages can be relaxing and help relieve tension in your body. Give yourself a massage and make yourself feel good. Treat yourself to a facial, or neck massage, or browse YouTube for self-massage tutorials.
8. Filtering Your Thoughts To Improve Your Wellbeing
One of the most important self-love ideas is filtering your thoughts. When your mind is filled with negative thoughts, those thoughts can affect how you feel. Show yourself some love by processing each thought and releasing anything that isn’t positive or uplifting. This helped me become more positive!
9. Listen To Inspirational Podcasts
I’m so thankful for podcasts! Currently, I love “Girls Night” with Stephanie May Wilson and “Coffee Convos” with Kail and Lindsey.
There are tons of podcasts that cover any topic you can think of. Whether you want to listen to a self-help or entertainment podcast, find one that covers your interests that you will enjoy!
10. Let Go Of Toxic People
This may require some time and a little more thinking. Evaluate your friendships and determine which ones are contributing to your well-being. Your time is valuable! You deserve to have friends that inspire you, support you, and motivate you to be better.
11. Drink Herbal Tea
I love enjoying herbal teas like Teavana’s Peach Tranquility and TAZO’s Calm Chamomile. Especially for quiet moments and when it’s time to unwind. However, I like to enjoy a nice iced coffee when I want to reward myself.
12. Start Embracing The Things You Love About Yourself
I challenge you to look in the mirror each day and tell yourself one thing you love about yourself. Embrace it! By doing so, you’ll make it a priority to love and appreciate yourself more. This healthy habit will help build your confidence, and you’ll feel great!
13. Stop Comparing Yourself To Others
Comparing yourself to others serves no purpose and is a waste of time! When you compare yourself to others, you’re tearing yourself down. Instead, try comparing yourself to who you were yesterday and how you can be a better version of yourself today. Also, always remember that no one can do a better job at being you than you!
14. Do A Digital Detox
Are you following anyone that isn’t positive or uplifting? Perhaps you notice toxic posts that appear on your timeline? If so, take a few moments to declutter your social media and unfollow accounts that don’t positively impact your well-being. You can’t control what anyone posts. However, you can control WHO you follow.
15. Read A Good Book
Reading is a great way to indulge in self-love and boost your self-esteem. For those days when you’re feeling down, read a book about self-love.
The Lipstick Gospel by Stephanie Mae Wilson
The Self-Love Experiment by Shannon Kaiser
Beautiful You by Rosie Molinary
16. Declutter Your Home
A cluttered space doesn’t promote clear thoughts. In fact, it’s the complete opposite. When your surroundings are a mess, it may affect your ability to focus and your productivity. Focus on organizing the areas you spend the most time in. Therefore, you won’t have a cluttered mind.
17. Dress In Comfort
You should always wear clothes that you are comfortable in. Even if you’re just lounging around at home and have nothing to do. Instead of staying in your PJ’s all day, implement some loungewear or activewear into your wardrobe. This will help you stay cozy and ready for the day! Here are my top picks:
- Comfy Shoes (These are super comfy)
- High-Waisted Leggings
- Sweatshirts
18. Enjoy A Warm Shower Or Bubble Bath
At the end of your day, try relaxing with a warm bath/bubble bath or maybe even a hot shower. Putting certain items in your baths like Epson salt or bath bombs can be pretty relaxing to the body. Also, warm steaming showers are relaxing to the body as well.
19. Buy Yourself Flowers
Flowers are an instant mood booster, and I don’t know about you, but I feel pretty special when receiving flowers from my husband. This shows you can practice self-love by being kind to yourself and picking out a beautiful bouquet.
Benchmark Bouquets – Life Is Good Orange Flowers
20. Learn How To Forgive Yourself And Others
Forgiving yourself and others who may have harmed you in the past will give you the willpower to move forward. It takes too much energy to dwell on things from the past. Practice forgiveness, and you’ll see a positive shift in your life that’ll aspire to a peaceful mind.
21. Exercise For Daily Movement
As I mentioned before, you must stay active and get your body moving daily. I love working out simply because of how I feel after completing my workout. You can hit the gym or do this 12 Minutes to Toned Total Body Workout by Cassie Ho in your home. All you’ll need is a yoga mat!
22. Treat Yourself To Something Nice
Your well-being should always be a priority. Take a day to focus on yourself and treat yourself to something you’ve always wanted. Most importantly, invest time and energy to nurture yourself with things that feed your soul.
23. Commit To Good Habits
No one is perfect, and we all understand that. However, if there’s a bad habit and you know it’s nothing good to maintain, try to get rid of it slowly. Whether it’s cursing, smoking, drinking, etc., all bad habits that affect your day-to-day life and work are meant to be broken. Also, the more positive you become, the better you’ll feel!
24. Do Something That Brings Out Your Creative Side
Try something new! You never know what you’ll like, especially if you have the same schedule every day. For instance, instead of going to buy a new top, try making one yourself. Doing something productive by yourself is a great way to practice self-love.
25. Travel To Create Memories
Another self-love habit to start is traveling. Going to a new place and seeing a new view allows you to have wonderful memories that you can look back on.
26. Create A Gratitude List
Writing down what you’re thankful for each day is a great way to reflect on things you’re grateful for. Focusing on the positive things in your life can improve your well-being and help you become a happier person. Here are a few gratitude journals I recommend:
Good Days Start With Gratitude Journal
Day and Night Gratitude – Reflection Journal
27. Laugh Often!
Sometimes you just need a good laugh, watch a stand-up comedian, and laugh it off!
28. Pray During The Good And Bad Times
Prayer can move mountains, and most importantly, there isn’t anything God can’t do! Express your concerns, and He’ll give you the confidence and love you’ll need. Praying daily is also a good habit to start building your faith.
29. Create A To-Do List To Help You Get Things Done
Sometimes, there will be loads of things you may have to do in a day, a week, or even a month! However, making a to-do list can make all those tasks seem so small. Therefore, if you complete the easy task first, you’ll have no other choice but to take care of the rest.
30. Do Your Own Nails
This goes along with self-care as well. It’s always a pleasure to treat yourself every once in a while. Remember all those times you’ve spent doing things for others? Why not take the time out of a busy schedule, and love yourself first?
These Are The Self-Love Habits That You Can Start Today
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