When we take time connect with ourselves both consciously and unconsciously, we develop a strong relationship of positive self image and acceptance that naturally creates a personal boundaries. The self love and boundaries we develop are the foundation for creating healthy relationships in all aspects of our lives.

Ask yourself how the people in your life, at home, work and in relationships treat you? And how do you treat them?

Think about the above questions as you read the 12 ways we show ourselves love and why they’re crucial in developing healthy relationships in all areas of our lives. What areas do you need to work on? Comment which ones you’d like to learn more about mastering.

1. Self-Compassion: When you treat yourself with the same kindness and understanding that you would offer to a friend, partner, family member or co-worker your self confidence naturally attracts respect from other people. It’s important to remember to be gentle with yourself, especially during challenging times.

2. Positive Self-Talk: When you make a conscious effort to pay attention to your inner dialogue and work on replacing self-criticism with positive affirmations your mindset shifts to one self love. Challenging your own negative thoughts about yourself and replacing them with self-affirming ones helps create a barrier of protection against others negative words towards you. This also helps remove triggers from past negative thinking.

3. Keep Your Promises to Yourself: When we keep the promises we make to ourselves we establish inner trust and confidence. The habit of promise keeping helps us enforce healthy boundaries in relationships making it comfortable to say "no" when necessary, and prioritize your own needs and well-being.

4. Self-Care: Prioritizing self-care activities that nurture your physical, emotional, and mental health are an important part of maintaining healthy relationships. This can include exercise, a balanced diet, meditation, hobbies, or spending time with loved ones. When we value the time we spend with ourselves we’re open to our partners and friends spending time apart from us and we’re able to be productive working alone.

5. Celebrate Your Achievements: Acknowledge and celebrate your accomplishments, no matter how small they may seem. Recognize your strengths and the progress you've made.

6. Accepting Your Imperfections: Understanding that nobody is perfect including yourself and that it's okay to have flaws and make mistakes develops the ability to seek understanding not judgement. Embracing your imperfections as part of what makes you unique and helps you appreciate the uniqueness of others.

7. Forgive Yourself: Letting go of past mistakes and forgiving yourself is an important part of becoming who you want to be. When you release guilt and shame your self-love development of personal growth enhance. Forgiving yourself makes it easier to forgive others.

8. Practice Mindfulness: Being present in the moment and cultivating self-awareness helps you understand your emotions and thought patterns better. Mastering your emotional intelligence allows you to respond to disagreements or offenses rather than reacting to them. In relationships, the ability to respond creates a comfortable atmosphere for communication even when the subject is a difficult one.

9. Protecting Your Peace: Surrounding yourself with people who uplift and support you and protecting your peace will greatly limit your exposure to negative and toxic relationships. It will also create natural boundaries around you and the life that you’ve created for yourself.

10. Seeking Professional Help: Many of us go through phases in life where our personal development require us to consider seeking support from a therapist or counselor. When we invest in ourselves and commit to a mindset of self love we value what we’ve created in ourselves and demand others in our lives do the same.

11. Setting and Pursuing Goals: Working on, setting and achieving goals that align with your values and passions lead to personal successes that can boost self-esteem and give meaning to each day. When we’re focused on goals outside of our relationships our happiness is based on our actions, not on the actions of others.

12. Practicing Gratitude: Cultivating a daily sense of gratitude for the positive aspects of your life is practice of self love that expands far beyond ourselves. When our energy is positive and our hearts are full we radiate an energy that attracts bounty. You’ll often find that your circle may be smaller but genuine love in your circle will be ginormous.

Practicing daily acts of self-love is an ongoing journey, and it's perfectly normal to have moments of self-doubt. The key is to continue practicing self-compassion and self-care, and over time, you'll develop a deeper and more genuine love for yourself. That love, will be your greatest victory and gift to you, your family and all relationships you develop through out the course of your life.

Be good to yourself,

Jill Schmidt