Today, I’m sharing self-esteem tips on self care plans to love yourself.  The concept of “self care” gets quite a lot of attention today, which is a great thing for a variety of  reasons.  Everyone needs to take steps to look after their own well-being on a regular basis.  It’s essential to remember that your life is a much bigger, deeper, and richer thing than just being a productive person.  

Often self care gets reduced to a handful of in-the-moment relaxation techniques, like enjoying a hot bubble bath, or watching TV.  Although there’s nothing wrong with these things, self-care has deeper and more significant components.  One of the best ways to think of self-care in a more meaningful, and longer-term sense is to love yourself.  

Just as we all need and cherish personal relationships with people who genuinely care about us, we need to cultivate the same relationship with ourselves.  

Self Care Plans to Love Yourself 

Learn to respect and understand yourself  

If you’ve ever heard or read anything about “self talk,” you’re probably well aware of the fact that the way we talk to ourselves can have an enormous impact on our well-being.  For example, if we see ourselves negativity and talk to ourselves in this manner, it can impact our sense of what’s possible in life.  Furthermore, it impact the degree to which we are able to actually thrive and experience a truly elevated quality of life.

Essentially, the problem is that we often speak to ourselves in an extremely harsh, aggressive, domineering, and uncharitable way.  This obviously leads to plenty of negative feelings, a sense of low self worth, and an outlook on the world that is toxic and destructive.

By calling yourself “an idiot,” “useless,” “a failure,” or any of the other negative things that we often  tell ourselves as we go through our day-to-day lives, we are essentially treating ourselves like enemies rather than friends.

In all likelihood, if a friend of yours ever let loose and started ranting and insulting you in this way, they would cease to be your friend immediately.  Or, at the very least you would have to have a very serious heart-to-heart conversation, demand an apology and contemplate a reconciliation after a lot of thought.  

If you want to learn to love yourself, change the way you talk to yourself.  Start challenging the little voice in your head every time you notice it being overly cruel and hostile. People who truly love you don’t put you down or speak to you in a negative manner.  

So, start talking to yourself with more respect and understanding.  You will begin feeling better about yourself while simultaneously adjusting your behavior and moving your life in a more positive direction overall.

Hold yourself accountable

If a friend of yours watches you do self-destructive things, which causes you to spiral down hill, you should question your relationship with them.  Furthermore, if they just shrugs their shoulders or don’t intervene with helpful and kind words you are not in a loving relationship or friendship.  

When you see a good friend go down a bad path, hopefully you would try to intervene or at least raise your concerns with them.  So, you should hold yourself accountable to you.  Have a conversation with yourself.  What would you say to your friends if they were self-destructing?

In order to exercise proper self care and love yourself, remind yourself of the standard you should be living up to in terms of your behavior and the way you interact with the world.

Of course, “keeping yourself accountable” doesn’t mean ranting at and belittling yourself when you are straying onto the wrong path. But it does mean reminding yourself that you’re better than that, and taking steps to move yourself back in a direction that you find good, meaningful, and worthwhile.

Your self care plan should include treating yourself 

It is necessary to treat yourself.  Making yourself a priority and knowing that you are deserving should be a part of your self-care plans.  It can add a bit of extra happiness, positivity, and excitement to everyday life.

If you’ve frequently been in the habit of being a bit harsh on yourself, you may find that you have a natural sense of aversion to actually buying something for yourself.  Ease up, get something nice for your own sake and or give yourself permission to just take an evening off and relax.

However, maintain the right balance you in treating yourself.  Avoid giving in to compulsive spending, but treating yourself to a pair of stylish boots that you’ve had your eye on can be rewarding.  So can a trip to the movies.  As a matter of fact, wear the stylish boots to the movies.  It’s a great way to exhibit a little love for yourself.  

Offer different perspectives to yourself

One of the great things that friends can do for each other, is to offer a variety of perspectives on and to help each other to work through thoughts, challenges, and deeper issues how to proceed in a given situation.

Maybe you’re not sure about what to do with your career or it could be that you’re feeling insecure about something and you’re finding it difficult to take a step back so you can a clear perspective about the situation.  Practice looking at different perspectives.  It’s a part of loving yourself and doing what’s best for you.  Have an intentional dialogue with yourself where you ask questions and think about different scenarios.  

For example, “What happened at work today was quite frustrating, but is there a different way to look at it?”  Maybe this is a sign you’ve been looking for to start retraining for a career change.”

Self care plans should include looking at the big picture  

Learning to look at the big picture sense is one of the most important things to do whenever you are learning to love yourself.  In life, there are all sorts of things that are fun, pleasurable, or temporarily, but that don’t do anything to help us thrive in a more significant, long-term sense.

One thing that good friends can do for each other, is to help provide a sense of motivation and perspective when we are discussing a situation.  It helps us see the bigger picture of our situation.  

Recognize the importance of having some fun

Life isn’t meant to be serious all the time, so learn to have a little fun.  If you find that you’re overly serious, and frequently miss the lighter side of life, try seeing things from a humorous perspective.  Having fun can significantly improve your quality of life in a variety of ways.