3 Simple Steps Towards a Surefire Investment That’s Guaranteed 2 Pay Off Big
“Investing in yourself is the best investment you will ever make. It will not only improve your life, it will improve the lives of all those around you.” – Robin Sharma
So here we are at step #6 in the process of loving ourselves and it involves making an investment. Fortunately it’s one that everyone can afford regardless of how much cash you have in your piggy bank. It’s all about investing in yourself.
The List of Things You Need 2 Do 2 Love Yourself
1. Know yourself.
2. Be true to yourself.
3. Accept yourself.
4. Be gentle with yourself.
5. Value yourself.
6. Invest in yourself.
I’m not talking about buying yourself things because while that’s an investment of sorts, it’s not the kind that’s going to pay you back in the long run. That said, I’m never one to just walk by a shoe store without a little browsing so I’m not going to be a hypocrite and suggest that shopping isn’t fun too (because it is) but I want to talk bigger than just buying stuff.
Time 4 a Random Act of Kindness – 4 U!
Be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. – Max Ehrman
On this road to learning to love yourself we’ve discussed the following:
1. Know yourself.
2. Be true to yourself.
3. Accept yourself.
Today we’re going to discuss #4: Be gentle with yourself.
You’ve probably noticed that you’re much harder on yourself than you are on others (and let’s admit it, we can all be pretty judge-y and critical of others so the fact that we’re actually harder on ourselves is pretty bad.) We’ve talked about accepting ourselves and forgiving ourselves but it’s ok to just be nice to yourself too. In fact, you’ve heard of paying it forward and random acts of kindness right? Why not love yourself by using some of those acts of kindness on you?
Happiness Starts with Being True 2 Yourself
It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are. -ee cummings
In a previous post I shared my cheat sheet to loving yourself which includes the six steps below.
1. Know yourself.
2. Be true to yourself.
3. Accept yourself.
4. Be gentle with yourself.
5. Value yourself.
6. Invest in yourself.
Let’s talk about #2 – Be true to yourself.
First, let’s recap why it’s important to love yourself. It’s pretty simple. Until you learn to love and be happy with yourself you will not be able to love someone else and you won’t be able to accept their love of you. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to miss out on love because I can’t figure out a way to love myself. As I discussed in another post, knowing yourself is the first step to loving yourself. After all, it’s hard to love someone you don’t even know right?
The next step after you know yourself is to actually be true to yourself. So what does that really mean?
L.O.V.E. Who Do I Love? Me! Me!
Sounds pretty self-centered right? I love me?
In my last post I talked about the 5th secret which is that life is all about love but what I didn’t tell you is that love actually needs to start with loving yourself. Let’s be clear about something though. I’m not suggesting that you become some kind of ego maniac who thinks they are better than everyone else. If you’ve been reading along with me you know that if you feel that way it’s actually your ego at work which is not the real you. No, what I’m talking about is deeper and more real than that.
Love is one of the most incredible things we have in our existence. It is pure, warm, comforting, complete and filled with joy. You know this about love when you experience it from others or when you see it’s existence in the world or when you look at a puppy. You can’t help but feel all fuzzy and warm inside when you experience love. So why wouldn’t you want to love yourself?
The Secret Handbook 4 Teens 