This isn’t your typical love story.
It doesn’t start with a lustful gaze across the room, flowers, chocolates, a sexy dress, a striking tux, a good fitting pair of jeans, a baby’s first breath, or even a frog or sleeping princess.
And yet, it’s the most powerful love any of us will ever know. Without it in our lives, it’s impossible to permanently make the changes that set us free to become more than we are now.
It’s the kind of love that sets fire to your soul and brings your dreams to life.
And for some, it’s hard to find, feel, and practice.
I’m talking about self-love.
Clients roll their eyes when I say it, but if you hate yourself (consciously or subconsciously), it’s impossible to make the changes you want to see. Sure, you can have some small success without it, but you’ll never experience long-term change and the profound results that come with true self-love.
I know we’ve talked a little about love in a previous email, but it’s so powerful that it’s worth repeating.
You can build and dream to your heart’s desire, hire the best coaches, etc. But if your self-love isn’t in place, there is no power behind your dream — you’re a boat adrift in the water with very little control.
The more self-worth and self-love you have, the more power you have to generate the future you want.
And really, isn’t that why you’re reading these posts in the first place? You want the power to generate an even better future for yourself, your relationship, your career or business, and your entire life – right?
Learning to love yourself after a lifetime of limited self-worth and, sometimes, lots of self-loathing doesn’t happen overnight. That’s the bad news.
But the good news is that people from all sorts of childhoods, broken homes, bad relationships, and distorted influences have succeeded in truly loving themselves and learning their self-worth.
And if they can do it, so can you.
Just like with everything you learn in life, it’s okay to start small.
Take 5 minutes each day for the next 2 weeks and do one of the following:
- Identify one of the negative self-thoughts you have and replace it with a positive one. Say the positive one to yourself when you wake up, before and after each meal, and before you go to bed at night.
- Do something good for yourself even if you don’t think you deserve it or that someone else needs your time more than you…it’s just 5 minutes. You can do 5 minutes.
- Sit and write a list of your positive attributes and skills.
You can do the same thing each day or cycle through them, but do one thing on the list each day. At the end of 2 weeks, pick a new thing from the list, a new thought to replace, a different good-for-you activity, or make a new list of positive things about you.
Learn to love and appreciate yourself, and your life will change for the better. You’ll start blasting through limiting beliefs and achieving new levels of success that always seemed just out of your grasp before.
And along the way, you’ll let go of some things and people that try to reinforce old beliefs and habits because change scares them.
If you’re dealing with a, “Should I stay or should I go?” situation, we’ll talk more about that next week. Making that kind of decision can be hard, right? I’ll talk about why it’s so hard and offer ideas that help you make the right decision for you.
I have 2 quotes for you this week!
Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.
~Malcolm S. Forbes
It is never too late to be what you might have been.
~George Eliot