The Importance of Self-Love

You’ve been told time and time again to love those around you, but did you know that you also must love yourself? There are several reasons to love yourself, all of which are important. Read on to find out more about the importance of self-love and why you should prioritize it in your life. 

 

Self-Love is Important For Relationships

 

The number one reason self-love is important is that before you can love someone else, you must first learn to love yourself. You learn about how to treat someone you love based on how you treat yourself.  So if you don’t treat yourself with respect and love, you won’t be able to treat someone you love the same way. This can ruin your relationships with others, both friends and family alike. Therefore, if you want to love others, start by loving yourself.

 

Without Self-Love, You’ll Burn Out

 

Besides learning how to love yourself to love others, you also need to learn how to love yourself so you don't burn out. Burnout happens when you spend too much time focusing on others or your duties in life and neglecting self-care. It is characterized by an inability to focus and a sense of exhaustion that won't go away. Self-love is important because it helps keep you from burning out. 

 

Self-Love is Critical to Success

 

Do you want to be successful? Who doesn't! Self-love is important for success. This is because you can't possibly focus on bettering yourself or your place in life while you are constantly being negative about yourself or your abilities. You need to love yourself and embrace your flaws to use them to your advantage. Learning to love even the mistakes you make is a critical part of self-love. 

 

Self-Love Makes You Happier

 

Do you enjoy walking around not liking who you are as a person? Probably not. It is impossible to be happy when you spend your whole life hating on yourself and not loving yourself. If you want to lead a happy and healthy life, you need to work towards self-love today. Plus, you will feel better when you practice self-love, and when you feel better about yourself and the world around you, happiness isn't that far behind!

 

Self-love is a difficult thing to pursue in life, but it is critical to the quality of your life. Without self-love, you will have poor relationships with others, you may burn out, and you will probably never achieve success. Not to mention that you probably won't lead a very happy life! This is why you should put self-love first in your life today! 

 

Are Your Priorities Holding You Back from Becoming the Best You Ever?

What does the best version of you look like? Seriously, think about that for a minute. You're reading this right now because you want to grow and improve. Your current reality might be good, but you know it can still improve. You want to do something to change in some way so that your experiences change. You realize your relationships, financial picture, or health can improve.

 

So, you're taking action. For people like you that are driven to create significant and positive change, effort or desire is never in low supply. You've probably tried to do things in the past to create change. Maybe you succeeded at some level. Many of us who attempt to create better versions of ourselves will find early success, only to eventually return to the undesired reality where we started.

 

This can happen when priorities are out of place.

 

You know what you want. You consciously desire to become better. You gather the knowledge. You take action and are determined to create the desired result.

 

That can't happen if your priorities aren't in line with what you tell yourself you want to accomplish.

 

Change Your Priorities, and You Can Change Your Experience

 

If you want better, more fulfilling, and healthier relationships, what are you doing to make that happen? Do you have a detailed game plan? Or do you work on strengthening your relationship whenever you think about it?

 

What we're talking about are priorities. You may desire a wonderful relationship more than just about anything else. That will not happen if your actions reveal that you prioritize other activities ahead of strengthening your relationship. 

 

You might be working too much. Your idea is that the more money you can make, the better reality you can give your significant other. So, you pour yourself into your job and have very little time to spend with the person that's so important to you.

 

In this situation, you need to prioritize more time working on your relationship and less time on your job.

 

Look at what you do habitually. You might not consciously prioritize activities and habits that deliver a negative experience. It may be happening unconsciously. If the things you do regularly aren't creating the best version of yourself, change your priorities. When you prioritize making changes that relate to your core values and beliefs, you'll see more success in creating that reality.

 

5 Behaviors of Successful People

Successful people are not typically born with the habits and behaviors that help them get to where they want to be. 

 

Through hard work and perseverance, people do well in life, traits that other successful people adopt. Keep reading to learn about the five behaviors you should adopt if you desire the same.

 

Spend Time With Other Successful People

 

When you spend time with other successful people, you tend to adopt the behaviors and habits that they display. This is true of many friendships, which begin with a common trait and then expand to friends developing similar behaviors. 

 

If you genuinely want to be successful, keep company with those who demonstrate the behaviors and habits you wish to emulate. As the saying goes, "if you are the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room." 

 

This means that you want to continually build your network of friends that will help you grow and succeed.

 

Be a Lifelong Learner

 

Successful people make it a habit of learning something new at all times. This is because knowledge creates opportunities that you may not have reached before. Whether you wish to move up in the company you work for or create something new, learning is the key to success.

 

Change Your Mindset

 

Successful people understand the value of having a positive mindset in everything they wish to accomplish. You have the power inside of you to either sit in complacency or to step up and find the success you want for yourself. 

 

It is a matter of how you view yourself and your environment. When you choose to have a growth mindset, you can move mountains and accomplish anything you set your mind to.

 

Manage Your Time Effectively

 

While managing your time can be a challenge, learning how to do it effectively can make a huge difference in your life. Successful people know the importance of honoring their schedules to promptly complete daily tasks. Because of this, they purposely cut out things that are not a priority and learn to delegate tasks that others can do. 

 

Set Goals For Growth

 

One of the most important behaviors to adopt if you want to be successful is setting goals focused on personal growth. 

 

To be successful takes motivation, which comes from taking the small wins as they come. While having long-term goals is essential, having short-term goals that get you to the longer ones are equally important.

 

Overall, if you want to be successful, you need to change some behaviors and habits that may hold you back. Taking the time to incorporate these five behaviors into your daily life can help you achieve the success you desire.

The Importance of Defining What Success Means to You

Everyone in life seems to be chasing the same thing, something by the name of success. While this may seem like everyone is pursuing the same goal, this couldn't be further from the truth. For this reason, you must discuss what success means to you before you start the journey towards it. Otherwise, you may end up lost along the way.

 

Why Does Success Look Different for Everyone?

 

Name one person on this earth that likes all the same things you do and does them in the exact same way you do. Can't think of anyone? Exactly. This is because everyone on this earth is different, so you can't expect success to look the same for everyone either.

 

You have different desires, beliefs, and abilities. Chances are something that someone else may see as success may not even seem like fun to you. Therefore, you wouldn't consider it a success based on how you see the world.  

 

Why is Defining What Success Means to You Important?

 

If you are chasing someone else's idea of success, the reality is, you probably won't get there. Especially because we have already established that you are unique in your abilities and desires. Therefore, to achieve success, you must define what that means for you.

 

For example, someone like Elon Musk may qualify success as selling 12,000 of his new car models. While that is great for Elon Musk, you are just a dealer at a car lot. You're just looking to make enough money to survive and go on that vacation you've always wanted. Therefore, success for you should be defined as selling five cars every month, or whatever amount to meet your monetary goal. 

 

If you don't set an appropriate goal and instead define success only as selling 12,000 units, you will likely never achieve it and end up disappointed and discouraged. 

 

Defining Success is Critical to Achieving It

 

As you can see, you don't have to make your own definition of success, but if you stick to the one the world provides you, you won't be honoring your situation or desires.  

 

It's time to throw away the world's ideas of success and create your own. While it may look different, and others may not understand, you’ll be able to achieve it—and that’s all that really matters.

 

Overall, success is only great if you achieve it. Therefore, it is absolutely critical that you define your own version of success. This is the only way it will be within your reach.  

 

A Simple 3-Step Process to Practice More Empathy

An empathetic person can identify with what someone else is experiencing. They may have had the same experience before. This isn't necessary to practice empathy. You might just be very good at putting yourself in another person's mindset.

 

Someone tells you they lost their job. They're going through so many different negative emotions. They're concerned about their mortgage payment and other financial issues.

 

A person that loses a dream job could start wondering what happened. It took them a long time to get the job they always wanted. They might have been a great employee. Then something occurred that was out of their control. Perhaps the company went bankrupt.

 

This individual could start questioning his own role in the failure of the company. A ton of different negative emotions might be experienced. The empathetic person is able to fully embrace the emotions the other person is going through even if they've never lost a job before.

 

You might want to help your friends and family members by displaying more empathy. You care about them and want to help them when they're in need. If that's the case, simply put into practice the following three-step technique for showing empathy.

 

Step 1 – Listen Actively

 

You might be a good listener. But are you an active listener? Do you just sit there with a blank expression and take in everything that's being said?

 

An active listener uses body language, facial expressions and eye movement to let the person speaking know that they're engaged and present. They are truly and deeply listening. 

 

You use open-ended questions to try to get more information from the speaker. Active listening uses anything at your disposal to get the speaker to share more information. You communicate to that person that their feelings are understood.

 

Step 2 – Validate the Experience

 

People often tell you what's on their minds because they want you to validate what they're saying. They need to know that it's okay to have certain feelings or think a specific way. When you validate a tough situation someone's experiencing, you let them know they're not alone.

 

You validate an experience by adopting the same feelings and emotions. Tell the person that you're sharing the experience with them and that it's okay. They should recognize whatever emotions are happening. Then the empathetic person tries to figure out what can be done to fix the problem.

 

Step 3 – Offer Advice

 

Empathy is a two-part process. You take on the perspective of another person. You develop an understanding emotionally of what that person is going through. The second part involves action. You provide assistance of some kind. You try to help the person with their struggle. 

 

One way you can do this is by offering smart advice. Remember to think about their situation and not yours. Don't include any bias or judgment. Put yourself in their shoes and then give them advice to help them out of their problem.

 

Showing empathy means you care. It tells people you're putting your own interests aside for a while. The three-step process we just covered can help you show empathy to the people you care about. You'll find that you benefit as much as they do by making an emotional connection.

 

8 Techniques That Stop Anger in its Tracks

You can’t believe they did it. Of all people, turning on you this way. You want to react in kind, drawing on the anger flowing through you to lash out. Make the other person hurt every bit as much as you do right now.

 

Wait a minute. You can’t. You’re not that person. You don’t want to BE that person. You’re better than this.

 

But how do you stop anger in its tracks before it gets the best of you?

 

Take a Walk

 

The physical act of walking will burn off some of the adrenaline while getting outside, giving you a distracting change in scenery. And it works even better if you’re walking away from the object of your anger. Sometimes all you need is some space.

 

Pay Attention to your Muscles

 

Like walking, exercise is good. Also, anger tends to tighten you up, so a good stretch, or even better practicing progressive muscle relaxation, will knock the tension out.

 

Say Something

 

Choose a pet phrase or mantra which calms you. Say it several times, slowly, and deliberately to put your focus elsewhere.

 

Visualization

 

Escape somewhere else. Remove yourself from the situation that has made you mad and find a quiet place where you can visualize something peaceful. Build in as much detail as you can to make it as real as possible. Stay in this vision until you feel yourself start to calm down. 

 

Do Something Grand

 

Take your anger and turn it into activism. How can you use this to change the world? Sign (or start!) a petition. Volunteer.  Get involved in the community and make the world a better place. 

 

Write About It

 

Journaling can help you to work through your emotions in a way that might even help prevent you from getting mad the next time around. Understanding what it was about the event which triggered you will help reshape the trigger entirely.

 

Switch Perspective

 

It can be hard to use empathy when you’re upset. But if you can see things from their perspective, it might help you to calm your response. Many times anger comes from misunderstanding the situation.

 

Forgive

 

This technique falls under expert level of anger management. By being the bigger person and forgiving the other, you’ll find you no longer have reason to be mad at all.

 

The key to all of these is simple: don’t let anger take control. The last thing you need is for you to fall under the power of negative emotion. Use the anger to make a better place or let it go entirely. In the end, you’ll be happier you did.

 

5 Techniques for Using Affirmations to Enhance Your Relationship

Affirmations are powerful positive statements. You may be aware of them as a tool for self-improvement or to help you reach your goals. Did you know that affirmations can help improve your relationships with your partner, family, friends, and even your colleagues?

 

By choosing your words carefully and meaningfully, you can improve relationships in every area of your life. 

 

1. Show Empathy

You can use affirmations to show the other person that you see their feelings and acknowledge them. Affirmations can be used as a component of active listening. Listen to what they are saying, without interrupting, and when you do speak, you reflect back what they said to you. You acknowledge where they are and give them space to vent or celebrate or just get their message across. 

 

The key to showing empathy is to make sure you don’t contradict or negate their feelings. Don’t offer advice or give a contrary opinion. Just stand with them in their space. 

 

2. Be Authentic

Make sure your affirmations are coming from a place of sincerity. Don’t say things you don’t mean. Keep your affirming messages to the point and focused on the other person. 

 

Affirmations that are economical with the truth or speak out of character will undermine your relationship, not build it. Make sure you speak from the heart. And you don’t have to use flowery language, just be nice. 

 

3. Tell Your Loved Ones They’re Loved

Saying I love you early in a relationship is easy. But as time goes on, it’s easy to let endearments slide. Get into the habit of telling your partner, your children, your family, your friends how much you love them. Don’t take it for granted that they feel loved, make sure they know it!

 

4. Say Thank You

When was the last time you said thank you for a home-cooked meal? Or for proofreading your job application?  Or even for taking the garbage out?

 

No act of kindness should go unacknowledged. Show your family and friends and colleagues that you appreciate what they do for you. Affirm their role in your life. 

 

5. Give Public Praise

Sometimes the best affirmations come in the form of public acknowledgment. Give credit where it’s due to your team members, your partner, and your kids. Show them you're grateful and proud of them. Make it a point to acknowledge the extra effort and exceptional achievements.

Building Your Child’s Self-Esteem

As parents, we’re always looking for ways to make our kids happier, healthier, and more successful. Yet, few of us know exactly how to do that.

 

Beyond showering them with compliments and positive affirmations all day long, we’re pretty lost.

 

According to experts, what we should be doing instead is teaching them how to be more resilient, feel confident about themselves, and build up their self-esteem.

 

Because we know how much you want the best for your kids, we rounded up five of the most effective ways to build your child’s self-esteem.

 

Let’s get started.

 

Give Your Child Responsibilities

 

Studies show that children who take on age-appropriate responsibilities from an early age grow into highly successful adults.

 

Another thing you can do is give them choices. When children feel like they have options, it makes them feel validated, like their opinion matters.

 

For young children, you can give them a few simple chores around the house. Then, give them the chance to choose between pancakes or waffles.

 

As they grow, their range of responsibilities and choices should grow with them. This will help prepare them for the more challenging choices they’ll face later on in life.

 

So, they may whine and complain at first. But they’ll definitely thank you later.

 

Create Opportunities for Growth

 

We all want our kids to be successful at everything they try out. One way to do that is to pay attention to what your child enjoys doing. Then, help them set achievable goals in their scope of interest.

 

This opens up opportunities for your kids to try new activities and get that bubbly sense of pride when they learn something new. They may even make new friends and engage in social interactions outside of their class environment.

 

Remember that no matter what activities your child seeks out, they need to feel like they’re accepted by their parents. This means that if you want them to be a star athlete and they love painting instead, you still have to show your support and avoid focusing on weaknesses or shortcomings.

 

Get Your Child to See the Bright Side of Failures

 

You probably feel your heart burst with joy whenever your child accomplishes something or masters a new skill. Yet, you have to face the fact that they’re bound to mess up and make mistakes.

 

Your child has to get the message that you’re not seeking perfection. But you put more value on effort and progress, even if it means failing because while failing is never pleasant, it’s still a crucial part of growing up.

 

Plus, if managed properly, failure can be an opportunity to learn something new and stay humble. It also helps them maintain the courage needed to try again, which is always difficult to do even as adults.

 

However, our role as parents is to show our children that we love and accept them no matter what. It also teaches them to have a good attitude even during difficult times, and that it’s important to stay persistent and persevere.

 

Praise from Your Heart

 

You may be praising your child 24/7, but is it really heartfelt? Kids are intuitive when it comes to this sort of thing. They’ll know right away if you mean it or if you’re just going through the motions.

 

So, the next time you praise your child, make sure it’s heartfelt. For example, try saying something specific.

 

Look them in the eye and describe exactly why you feel this way or what particular part of their drawing caught your attention.

 

It may be a very small part of your day that you probably won’t remember a couple of hours later but to your child, it’s an affirmation that they’re loved unconditionally.

 

Avoid Sarcasm

 

It’s easy to let the stress of our jobs and responsibilities get the best of us. Then, we get frustrated and say things we don’t mean.

 

Though, we have to rein in our frustrations and remember that kids take everything to heart. So, even if you’re saying something sarcastic as a joke, all they’re going to pick up on is your tone and your choice of language.

 

Always keep in mind that your child is always seeking your approval, even if they pretend not to care. They want you to notice them and be proud of them.

 

At the same time, we can be too critical of our kids: they’re lazy, they misbehave, and they talk back. But saying these harsh, sarcastic things to your kid won’t motivate them and will only make things worse. So, the next time you get frustrated with your child, take a few minutes to cool off before blurting out something hurtful.

 

Not only will you end up regretting it, but over time, your kid will start to develop a negative view of themselves. This has a direct impact on their emotional and psychological health, which undermines their self-esteem.

5 Signs You Are Way Too Guarded

All of us have run into times when we were hurt or felt like someone took advantage of us. And everyone has a bit of a guard up as they get older, forcing them to be more selective about the people they talk with and the information they share. This can give us some protection, but at some point, we can become too guarded and refuse to let anyone into our lives again. 

 

When you are way too guarded and have put too many walls up around you, it can be almost impossible for you to let someone in again. You may be open to love and want to find someone to spend your life with, but every time someone gets close, you shut them down and push them away. How can you tell that you are too guarded and that this problem is causing a big issue in your life?

 

When we are guarded, we will take normal situations and overthink them or assume that there is something wrong with having them in our relationship. There are several signs that you are acting way too guarded and it is starting to harm your relationships. These signs include:

 

• You swallow all your emotions: You decide to push all of your emotions down and never bring them up because you are desperate for things to be different from the last time. While this may sound like a great idea, pushing the emotions down will just make them explode worse than before.

• You have trouble with intimacy: When someone tries to be intimate with you, you decide to play it off as a joke. You may do this to try and protect yourself, but it ends up hurting the other person, which is not a good thing either. You may notice that feelings overall are going to make you uncomfortable. This can include all types of emotions, from having them, talking about them, and seeing others on screen displaying them.

• You are very critical: You are critical and try to play things off as cool to not talk about your emotions. You may feel that this keeps people at a distance, and it does. They will sense your attitude and run for the hills, especially if they would like a commitment.

• Your personality is intense: Those who have their guard up quite a bit are going to play a part, trying to show off how amazing they are, even when they feel down in the dumps. This can often be overdone, and most people can see right through it. You need to be your true self, not someone else.

• You see commitment as an ultimatum: If the other person wants you to commit, it can feel like a bad thing, even though most would see it as a good thing. People who are guarded see this as a big ultimatum, rather than a great milestone that should be next in a relationship. You may feel like your partner is trying to ruin a good thing by pushing it forward, rather than just letting things be. Your emotions can get the best of you, and it can lead to a fight that will end the relationship. 

 

When you exhibit several of these signs or more, it is a red flag that you are pushing people away and need to look at a new approach. If you have been hurt in the past, it is normal to put these walls up to provide yourself with some protection, but it is time to recognize the signs and bring them down if you want to experience true love again. 

5 Tips To Become A Better Listener

Most of us are good at talking and telling our stories, but when we want to make a lasting connection with other people, we need to take the time to become good listeners. We can learn so much about other people and how they interact with us if we can stop and listen to what they are saying and pay attention to some of their nonverbal cues as well. 

 

According to Harvard Business Review, listening well is a skill that can help you through many areas of your life. By learning how to become a better listener, you will be able to interact with anyone and make lasting connections that will help you succeed. Some of the tips that you can use to become a better listener include:

 

Pay Attention to Nonverbal Cues

 

Active listening means that you need to pay attention not just to the verbal cues that the person is saying out loud, but also to the nonverbal cues. This will tell you so much more than the words from the other person. There are a ton of nonverbal cues that you can consider listening for including body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice. You will be amazed at what this can tell you. 

 

Repeat Back

 

This one can feel a bit unnatural at first, but you will find that it helps you to process what the other person is saying and shows them that you are paying attention. You don’t need to repeat everything but repeat the last few words back when they are done talking. It can keep you on track, helps the other person feel important, and gives you a few seconds to gather your thoughts. There is no reason to put it into your own words; repeat the words exactly as they were said. 

 

Ask Questions

 

You should ask more questions than you think is necessary. This will help the other person feel like you are listening to them and trying to understand what they tell you. And it is a great way to make sure that you are not overlooking the details. It is unlikely that you will ask too many questions at any time, so keep asking them to show that you are paying attention. 

 

Minimize the Distractions

 

It is really hard to pay attention to the other person if there are a ton of distractions going on around you. if you can’t focus in the room, maybe consider asking the other person to go to a new location so you can give them your full attention. Avoid interruptions, noise, and even your phone to make sure that you can give the other person as much attention as possible. 

 

Don’t Rehearse What You Will Say

 

One of the biggest mistakes that people will make when it comes to listening is that they spend more time rehearsing what they will say, rather than just listening. They want to sound witty or get their important information out there and they end up missing out on key details that would help them get along with the other person better. This is something that you need to avoid. 

 

Instead of rehearsing your responses, you should simply take a brief pause when the other person is done to compose your thoughts. You can think four times faster than the other person talks, so you will need to slow things down and learn to pay attention. Use that brainpower to stay focused so that you can take in as much information as possible, rather than focusing on something other than the person in the conversation.