5 simple ways to make self-love a daily habit that work
In today’s fast-paced world, we too often forget to care for the most important person in our lives. Us. Regularly practicing self-love is a very important thing that’s too often overlooked. If helps us love ourselves, it boosts our self-esteem, emotional resilience and improves relationships – the relationship between you and you, and the relationships between you and other people.
Being on a self-development journey and trying to work on ourselves in this crazy world with gazillion things we have to do every day is already tough and requires a lot of will. But we can also do small things every day that help us tremendously even if when we’re doing them they seem small.
When we make self-love a daily habit, we become more aware of our needs, build confidence in our worth, and develop the strength to face life’s challenges. Self-love empowers us in every aspect in life.
We’ll check five super simple ways that will help you practice self-love every day and won’t make you overwhelmed.
1. Celebrate your small wins every day
It’s so easy to focus on what we didn’t accomplish – the unfinished tasks, unmet goals, or mistakes. It’s so easy to beat and bring ourselves down and get stuck into the cycle of what a failure we are, how lazy we are or how we should do this and that.
But did you ever think…if you keep telling yourself how awful you are, how you’re not good enough and what a failure you are that maybe it makes sense you don’t love yourself?
When was the last time you said to yourself how proud you are? Or oh wow how much you did in one day? Or how proud you are because even when you didn’t feel your best you did everything you want? The problem is that when we focus too much on what’s missing, we’re sending ourselves the message that we’re not good enough.
So try celebrating small wins. You don’t need to wait for huge achievements. Celebrate small simple things like completing a task, working out when you didn’t feel like it, cooking that amazing lunch today, how awesome you handled yourself in a certain situation, how you stepped out of your comfort zone and rocked it…
Shift your mindset from constantly searching for mistakes to celebrating small wins. The more you do that, the more love you’ll feel towards yourself and the more your sense of self-worth will build.
For me it was a struggle when I started my self-development journey. I kept comparing myself. I was focusing on what I messed up or didn’t do rather than celebrating that I’m doing it. I’m freaking doing the hard tough work on myself! That by itself is amazing and is more than 90% of people do in their lifetime. So be freaking proud of yourself because you’re amazing!
Exercise:
At the end of each day, write down at least one small thing you did well. If it’s hard for you to find something in the beginning, push yourself and find that one small thing. It’ll become easier to find more things as you regularly practice this plus this practice will help you end your day on a positive note.
Journal prompts:
- How do I feel when I acknowledge my small wins?
- What small wins from today make me proud of myself?
- Do I notice more of what I didn’t accomplish than what I did? Why do I think that is?
2. Make time for daily self-care
Appreciating yourself and your mind and body isn’t selfish. Is a nessesity to feel good and confident. It helps you refuel yourself so you can show up as your best self in all areas of life. Daily self-care reminds you that you’re worthy of rest, attention, and nurturing.
Being so busy that you forget about yourself is not something to be proud of. I mean of course it’s amazing that you do gazillion things in a day, but if you don’t take time to love, appreciate and take care of yourself, who will?
And self care doesn’t need to be this super complicated or time-consuming ritual. Small, consistent habits can make a huge difference. For me it’s a cup of coffee, taking my time enjoying it, or doing my self-care routine, or getting my nails done, or taking 10 minutes in a busy day to meditate.
Self-care is about you – so do what feels good to you because that’s all what it’s about.
Exercise:
Choose one self-care activity you enjoy and make it part of your every day routine. It can be whatever because you’re the boss, it can be journaling, a relaxing bath, or meditating, going on a walk, listening to your favorite music for 10 min, whatever it is commit to doing it regularly.
Journal prompts:
- How did you feel after practicing self-care today?
- What thoughts or feelings arise when you prioritize yourself?
- Are there any new self-care activities you’d like to try?
3. Spend time alone to connect with yourself
Spending time alone is one of the most effective ways to practice self-love. It gives you the space to check in with your thoughts, emotions, and desires without distractions.
In our constantly connected world, true alone time is rare. And too many people don’t even know how to slow down and be alone with themselves. But reality is that during these moments of stillness we can reconnect with ourselves and gain clarity on our needs, goals, and boundaries.
Exercise:
Dedicate 5 or more minutes each day to spending time alone without distractions like your phone or TV. Whether it’s a walk, sitting quietly, or journaling, use this time to listen to your thoughts and emotions.
Journal prompts:
- How did I feel during my alone time today?
- What insights or emotions came up during this quiet moment?
- How can I use this alone time to understand myself better?
4. Practice forgiving yourself
Not forgiving yourself for past mistakes is a big thing that can hold us back when we’re trying to love ourselves. We often hear about forgiving others, but we’re rarely taught the importance of forgiving ourselves. Self-forgiveness is a very important part of self-love because it allows us to release guilt, shame, and regret that weigh us down.
If you still blame or put yourself down for something you did xy years ago, think you’re such an awful person for doing or not doing something then it will be pretty hard to love yourself don’t you think?
Because in order to love ourselves we need to become our own best friend, biggest supporter and cheerleader and forgiving yourself means showing yourself the same compassion you’d offer a friend. In order to grow we need to let go of the past.
I used to struggle a lot with forgiving myself. I loooved to put myself down and blame myself and replaying everything thousand times in my mind. Then one day I decided to write myself a forgiveness letter.
I didn’t hold anything back, I wrote the shittiest things about myself but that’s what it was needed to let go. After putting all the anger and hate on the paper I rewrote it, trying to see the other perspective and rewrote it as if my best friend would go through the same experience.
Obviously it didn’t erase everything in a second but it was the biggest step towards my self-forgiveness and when I was done with it was such a huge relief that really helped me to move on with my self-development journey.
Exercise:
Think of a mistake or regret you’ve been holding onto. Write down the experience in detail and don’t hold anything back – this is your space to be completely honest about how you feel, no matter how dofficult or bad it is. Then write yourself a forgiveness letter. Acknowledge what you did, reflect on what happened and imagine it’s an experience told by someone you deeply care about. Rewrite it in a way you’d talk to them. Offer the same love, understanding and compassion you’d offer to them.
When you’re ready, release the guilt. If it feels right, you might even burn the letter or doing something else with it. Focus on what a huge step you did, how much you’ve grown and be proud of yourself because this step wasn’t easy and yet you did it.
Journal prompts:
- How does forgiving yourself feel?
- What past mistakes or regrets are you ready to let go of?
- How did holding onto guilt impact your self-worth?
5. Start a daily gratitude practice
Gratitude is a powerful tool for helping you love yourself because it shifts your focus from what’s lacking to what you have. Practicing gratitude helps you see and appreciate everything positive you have in your life and helps you connect to yourself and your emotions.
Exercise:
Each day, write down three things you appreciate about yourself. You can write down whatever you want, your personal strengths, actions you’re proud of, something you did today, how you reacted, about moments when you felt you’re making progress…whatever feels good to you and whatever you’re proud of.
Journal prompts:
- What three things am I most grateful for about myself today?
- What was challenging about expressing gratitude for myself today?
- How did it feel to acknowledge my own strengths and qualities?
If you need help with building a gratitude practice you can check 100 best gratitude journal questions that will help you get started.
How to stay consistent
Whatever you’re trying to work on and become better at it takes consistency. These simple practices we went through can bring real change, but only if you stick with them. Here are a few ways to help you stay on track:
- Start small: don’t overwhelm yourself with 10 things you need to do in a day otherwise you failed. Pick one or two practices to start with. Master them, and add more as they become part of your routine.
- Use reminders: Set reminders on your phone, place sticky notes around your space, or create a small self-love corner to keep these habits in focus.
- Reflect regularly: Use a journal to track your progress or at least reflect on what you’ve been doing and how it helped andnchanged you. Regular reflections will help you stay motivated and see how these habits impact your life.
- Be gentle with yourself: If you miss a day, that’s okay. Just pick up where you left off. The journey is full of ups and downs and it’s not about being perfect but about doing the thing. So be gentle with yourself, acknowledge your efforts and continue pushing towards being the best version of yourself.
By incorporating these practices you’ll build a foundation of self-love that can become part of your daily routine. Self-love is a journey, and every small step counts.
If you’re ready to dive deeper, my 60-day self-love workbook is designed to guide you. Filled with exercises, journal prompts, and challenges, it will help you transform your relationship with yourself.
What’s inside the workbook:
- Daily exercises to strengthen your self-worth.
- Journal prompts to reflect on your growth.
- Actionable challenges to build habits of self-compassion, gratitude, and mindfulness.
- Progress trackers to keep you motivated and celebrate your wins.
Ready to start your journey?
Click here to purchase the 60-day self-love workbook and take the first step toward a compassionate relationship with yourself.
