In Self Love 101, I blogged about the importance of committing acts of love towards yourself. I am following up with some of my favorite “self-love” tips:  

1. Stop To Notice Your Thoughts.
   • Most of us have more than 50,000 thoughts a day. We “think” we know what we are thinking, but until we take time to stop and notice those thoughts, we are unaware of them.
   • A great way to notice your thoughts is through daily meditation, journaling (I offer a free journaling tool to help you do that), or setting a random reminder on your phone to notice what you are thinking.
   • Once you are able to “notice” your thinking, you can then determine whether your thoughts about yourself are helpful, loving, and make you feel better.
2. Change Your Inner-Critic Chatter.
   • Many of us have an “inner critic” that is not loving towards ourselves.
   • Once we have noticed what we are thinking, we can make a conscious decision to stop our inner critic from taking over.
   • When the inner critic starts saying, “You are not good enough…” you can tell it to “STOP.”  You then have the opportunity to choose new thoughts that are more kind and helpful
3. Practice Self-Compassion.
   • Quite often, the inner critic wants to “shame” us when we don’t meet a goal or veer off a diet plan.
   • Take 5 to 15 minutes a day to do a “Loving Kindness” meditation. It is a simple, self-compassion exercise and it’s very powerful.
   • When we are able to be compassionate with ourselves, our love for ourselves — and for others — will increase.
4. Schedule Yourself.
   • Put yourself on the calendar!
   • Schedule your “me” time, in writing, every day.
   • Include your meditation or “quiet time,” in addition to exercise. Also, schedule fun activities you really want to do.
   • “Fun” is whatever lights you up!  It could be a walk in the woods, a manicure, or a trip to an art gallery.
   • When you put YOU on the calendar, you are much more likely to enjoy the activities you want, and you will grow to value and love yourself even more.

I’d love to hear if these tips help you!

xo
Kathy

If you are interested in my “Transform Your Life” Small Group Coaching Programs starting in March, email me!!!