I think that on a day like Valentine's Day, it's very easy to get caught up in the whole 'love your boyfriend / girlfriend' thing and that if you don't have one, or maybe even if you do, it's very hard to remember to love yourself first. I, as usual, was a #singlepringle this year and I really don't mind this (I am only 13 after all) but there are so many people I know that feel it's necessary to have a boyfriend / girlfriend to be worth something and that is the furthest from the truth you could possibly get. No-one needs somebody else to love them to feel confident, you're your own worst critic so if your worst critic, all self-doubt and worry will go away. At least that's my theory. Anyway, here are a few things I use to love myself more everyday.
1. TAKE A LITTLE SUGAR
It's often too easy to beat yourself up when you make a mistake, to punish yourself for not going to the gym, for forgetting that piece of homework or for missing that bus. Don't. When something goes wrong, take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Look at what the worst possible outcome could be, look at how important this mistake really was - it's likely that it actually wasn't as important. Punishing yourself will never solve the problem, you'll only make it worse so be a bit sweeter and take a lil sugar.
It's often too easy to beat yourself up when you make a mistake, to punish yourself for not going to the gym, for forgetting that piece of homework or for missing that bus. Don't. When something goes wrong, take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Look at what the worst possible outcome could be, look at how important this mistake really was - it's likely that it actually wasn't as important. Punishing yourself will never solve the problem, you'll only make it worse so be a bit sweeter and take a lil sugar.
2. SET YOURSELF ACHIEVABLE GOALS
This is something I do at the start of every month, and it really helps to get the right mindset and to start off the month all motivated. The key here is that they are achievable, that you feel as if you can easily complete them and avoid being disappointed with yourself but so that you are stretching yourself and improving. It's important to move forward so don't underestimate yourself but that being said, if you've never spoken a word of Spanish before don't expect yourself to be able to hold a long conversation with a fluent speaker within a month.
This is something I do at the start of every month, and it really helps to get the right mindset and to start off the month all motivated. The key here is that they are achievable, that you feel as if you can easily complete them and avoid being disappointed with yourself but so that you are stretching yourself and improving. It's important to move forward so don't underestimate yourself but that being said, if you've never spoken a word of Spanish before don't expect yourself to be able to hold a long conversation with a fluent speaker within a month.
3. MAKE TIME FOR THE THINGS YOU LOVE
Sometimes, in this hectic and scheduled world we live in, it's very easy to get caught up in all the busy-ness and to start feeling very overwhelmed with all the deadlines and the meetings. This will lead to stress, anxiety and possibly even irritation, and we all know how horriblet it is to be around a grumpy person. When you plan the day's, or week's, work, set time aside for a little me-time. It's important to have a certain slot of time solely dedicated to you where you can relax and make sure you're completely happy every week, ideally every day. A little example I love using is the Sims 4 game - you can busy them with work, study and cleaning all you want but if their fun level's are too low, they start getting stressed and take their anger out on the world. When you do have a little me-time, I advise turning off all your devices or putting them on aeroplane mode so that they can't distract you. I love filling this time with baths, reading or watching a little Friends but it's all up to you really.
Sometimes, in this hectic and scheduled world we live in, it's very easy to get caught up in all the busy-ness and to start feeling very overwhelmed with all the deadlines and the meetings. This will lead to stress, anxiety and possibly even irritation, and we all know how horriblet it is to be around a grumpy person. When you plan the day's, or week's, work, set time aside for a little me-time. It's important to have a certain slot of time solely dedicated to you where you can relax and make sure you're completely happy every week, ideally every day. A little example I love using is the Sims 4 game - you can busy them with work, study and cleaning all you want but if their fun level's are too low, they start getting stressed and take their anger out on the world. When you do have a little me-time, I advise turning off all your devices or putting them on aeroplane mode so that they can't distract you. I love filling this time with baths, reading or watching a little Friends but it's all up to you really.
4. DO THINGS FOR YOURSELF, NOT OTHERS
I recently had a little dilemma in life: I really wanted to go out wearing the outfit I was but thought people would stare at me and laugh because not a lot of people wore stuff like that. In the end, I wore it anyway - my logic being that I enjoyed wearing it and that there was no real reason why anything else should be stopping me. I think that that's a really good lesson to have learnt, if you spend your whole life worrying about what others will think or doing things because you'll seem "cool" then you'll never do the things you love or anything which will benefit you. In the grand old scheme of things, who cares about what other people think of you? It's your life, not theirs, and you can do what you want with it.
I recently had a little dilemma in life: I really wanted to go out wearing the outfit I was but thought people would stare at me and laugh because not a lot of people wore stuff like that. In the end, I wore it anyway - my logic being that I enjoyed wearing it and that there was no real reason why anything else should be stopping me. I think that that's a really good lesson to have learnt, if you spend your whole life worrying about what others will think or doing things because you'll seem "cool" then you'll never do the things you love or anything which will benefit you. In the grand old scheme of things, who cares about what other people think of you? It's your life, not theirs, and you can do what you want with it.
5. HANG OUT WITH THE HAPPY PEOPLE
Okay, so that may sound a bit weird but hear me out (even though this technically isn't something you can do, it's still super super important). Surround yourself with people you love, people who love and understand you but most importantly people who support you. If everyone around you doesn't fully support your decision, then they're not the right people to be friends with. Everyone in your life should want the best for you and the more time you spend with people who make you happy, the longer you'll be happy for. Anyone who doesn't want to help you and your life isn't good enough for you, so just chuck them out, simple as.
Okay, so that may sound a bit weird but hear me out (even though this technically isn't something you can do, it's still super super important). Surround yourself with people you love, people who love and understand you but most importantly people who support you. If everyone around you doesn't fully support your decision, then they're not the right people to be friends with. Everyone in your life should want the best for you and the more time you spend with people who make you happy, the longer you'll be happy for. Anyone who doesn't want to help you and your life isn't good enough for you, so just chuck them out, simple as.
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| All images courtesy of the Tumblr-world of course |
Every single one of you is perfect, remember that.
Natalie xx
Aww, what a lovely positive post!!
ReplyDeletehttp://afrobeebeauty.blogspot.co.uk/
Abbie xx