Eight ways to be good to yourself

This year, the motto is ‘self-care and self-love’. No matter how bad past experiences have been, start putting your needs first for once, and you will soon discover that this journey to happiness includes being good to yourself.

And before any moral police come throwing stones, this has nothing to do with selfishness or some type of psychotic narcissism that many women and men are exhibiting in this day and age. 

This is about doing the most basic things to bring healing and happiness into your life and to those around you. Here are some of the ways you can learn to treat yourself with love, care and respect.

There are times when we do things just to fit in and make others happy. In the end, we end up feeling wasted and angry at ourselves for not paying attention to our own needs. Part of being good to yourself is taking control of your own happiness. No one is going to make you happy if you don’t know how to make yourself happy in the first place.

There’s nothing as liberating as forgiving yourself for things you did or didn’t do in the past. No matter what you do, nothing can bring back the past. No amount of regret or self-hate can change anything so you might as well learn the practice of letting go. It’s very possible to let go of the past and focus on the present. Doing so will save you from a lot of stress, which also has some major health consequences. Forgive and let go!

Being good to yourself also involves treating others right. When you’re kind to others, you attract more blessings into your life. Make an effort to repair relationships and have good intentions when dealing with others. In the long run, you will see that being good to people gives you a more fulfilling and abundant life.

In life, so many challenges will come your way. It’s a little unrealistic to expect things to always work out in your favour because they won’t. Some days will work out in your favour while others will work against you, so the best thing to do is practice resilience. Doing this will silence the mean inner voice that drives you to self-blame and self-criticism.

Humility is an important life skill that everyone should have. However, this isn’t a chance for you to downplay your achievements and avoid celebrating your progress and successes. Imposter Syndrome is real and it can actually cause some esteem issues when you feel like your achievements are never worth celebrating. Learn to give yourself credit where it’s due and acknowledge your wins. Don’t beat yourself up for celebrating every big milestone. Sometimes in life, you have to be your biggest cheerleader and pat yourself on the back.

Learning to trust yourself is very empowering. It’s what drives most achievers to keep pushing towards their goals which is something we’d all like to emulate. Always take yourself seriously because this will fuel your inner motivation on a daily basis. Eventually, you’ll find that you’re less worried about trying to be perfect and more focused on the journey to personal growth.

It’s really sad how many people operate on the ‘as long as I’m not harming anyone’ motto. This can be toxic at times because the person you could be doing the most harm to, is yourself. It’s important to respect your body and treat it like a temple. What you put into it eventually starts to affect you physically, mentally and emotionally. Therefore, start practising self-care by being mindful of how you treat yourself. Garbage in, garbage out.

Comparison is the thief of joy. You might have caught yourself admiring someone else’s life on Instagram or compared your achievements with those of your high school friends, don’t! Remember that everyone has their own path in life. No one can take away your blessings when you’re focused on working towards your personal vision. Stick to your lane, be the best at whatever it is that you’re doing and you will soon become the envy of those you thought were doing better than you.