Self-love should be your first love. Here are 6 ways that you can love yourself better today.

If you’re anything like me, you’re a person that has always wanted people to like or love you. You tend to “do the most” and are everywhere you’re needed. You do your best to mold yourself into the image you think people will like you the most as. You turn in to a “Yes girl” and you lose yourself trying to please everyone, searching for love and approval everywhere else from everyone else except from the one person you should: Yourself.

I had an epiphany and realized that I wasn’t loving on myself properly and I wanted to change that. Putting up with a lot emotional abuse, disrespect, energy drain, negative self-talk is something I really wanted to change about myself and I’m proud to say I’m making the steps to do so. But, how can you do the same?

Here are some small ways you can love and respect yourself better, right now, today!

1. Protect your energy at all costs

I know you want to overextend yourself to help and please everyone. There are those days where you’ve spent physical energy going to work, exercising, looking amazing, drinking your water, doing your daily affirmations, etc. After all of that, being a good friend, taking care of your kids, spending time with your man, volunteering, or doing everything else you need to do. THEN on top of that someone asks you to help or a friend asks you to come to some event to support them, it gets tiresome.

Think about you first and make the decisions about others after. This isn’t an excuse to become a recluse (haha that rhymed). But sometimes you don’t always have to be on and doing things. Take time for you and be a little bit selfish. As Robert Downey Jr. said “If I am not on team me, who else is going to be?”

Also, negative energy can be draining. Recognize how others make you feel. If it doesn’t feel good, leave it alone.

2. Eating better

Your soul lives inside your body. Your physical energy is connected to the fuel your putting into it. This doesn’t mean not eating carbs and starving yourself to death to be skinny or fit what kind of look you think anyone else likes. This means putting proper nutrients you need to fuel your mind and your body, eating whole foods, and making sure you get enough to eat.

3. Watching your self-talk

How many times have you made a mistake or misspoke and automatically thought or said “Wow, I’m stupid” or “What an idiot” referring to yourself? Calling yourself stupid is unacceptable! You are not stupid or dumb or ugly or unworthy. You are human and are amazing, smart, beautiful, and worthy in your own way. The world outside of your own head can be mean enough. Why make your private space in your own head be the same? You should always speak kind words to yourself, especially when you make a mistake

4. Living in the now

I know many of us spend time thinking about what the future will hold for us and what mistakes we’ve made in the past. This also a grueling, time consuming thought process that does nothing but prevents you from living a great life. Be focused on what today, and now, right at this moment brings. I think that these little moments of now brings the best of what’s to come.

5. Realize you’re human

This goes with number 3. You’re doing the best you can! Sometimes everything isn’t going to be 100% and that’s okay. Cliché alert: We’re all human, we’re all going to make mistakes, we’ve all have had our highs and our lows. Just learn and grow from your mistakes and be and do better.

6. Celebrate yourself everyday when you can

Again, as many mistakes we have and will make, there are so many great things that we have done and will do. When these moments come, congratulate yourself! Realize you’re awesome for doing what ever accomplishment you’ve achieved. I know that I don’t step back to celebrate my little victories (aka consisting writing and posting content. Yay me!). But even if it’s a tiny celebration for yourself, it’s one milestone crossed and many more to go.

Loving yourself can sometimes be the hardest thing to do, when it should be the easiest. It’s hard to realize that you must be number one in your own life. Believe me, this something that I’m realizing every day and I think it takes little steps. But overall, I believe that loving yourself first is the center of a blossoming, great life.

How else are you loving yourself better?