One Simple Way to Practice Self Love

Love, a word used so freely! And I’m glad! The more love, the better in my opinion. From babies to coffee, friends to page-turning novels, we just love everything about love!

Self love, on the other hand, can be a little tricky to break down and celebrate. For me, self love is the belief that I matter to me.

I care about my own happiness, because I know when I take care of myself I’m better equipped to take care of everyone and everything else I love.

The easiest, simplest way I’ve found to practice genuine self love is to stop procrastinating, or as I tend to think of it, stop sabotaging myself.

Telling yourself you’ll get gas on your way to work in the morning, instead of just doing it today is an act of self sabotage.

Pushing off going to the grocery store until the evening, so now you have to take three hungry, tired kids with you is an act of self sabotage.  

Putting off little tasks and allowing them to accumulate into one massive, all-day job is an act of self sabotage.

Start small. Journal about simple acts you can do to better care for yourself, then slowly start implementing them.

Simple things I do to practice self love include:

1. Setting up my coffee the night before so I just have to hit the button in the morning.
2. Running the dishwasher and wiping the counters down at night so in the morning when breakfast needs serving and lunches need packing I have the space to do it.
3. Planning out the week ahead with dinners, kids schedules and my and Toby’s schedules. Allowing me the feeling of being organized is a wonderful way to love myself.
4. Cleaning up the little messes when I see them. When they’re little, it takes like 30 seconds. Seriously. Having a clean-ish home and car make me happy, and making myself happy is an act of self-love.
5. Moving my body. The difference in my mood and energy when I don’t work out vs. when I do is basically night and day. Taking 20 – 60 minutes to move is another way I show myself some love.

My 10 year old has 90 minutes a week of homework on a particular app she hates doing. She puts it off and puts it off until the day before her minutes are due she has the full hour and a half to push through.

Cue the tears and big kid tantrums.

I began asking her in the beginning of the week to think of “Future Josephine.” Will Future Josephine want to have 90 minutes to do on Sunday, or 15? Will Future Josephine want to spend her weekend inside doing homework or out playing with her friends?

She laughs because she understands what I’m asking her. I tell her, You need to love yourself enough to do it and be done with it.  And you know what? It works. She’s so relieved when it’s complete on Wednesday and knows her weekend will be IXL free, and I’m relieved to have a daughter who won’t set herself up for a breakdown on Sunday afternoon.    

What are you putting off that you can take care of now? What can you prep or plan in a matter of seconds so Future You has it a little easier? Tell me how you practice self love.