By Books Writer Denise Turney

Discover effective ways to learn to love yourself and you could open up to the good you’ve been seeking. However, it’s important that you find the right path. After all, what works for your friend, neighbor or colleague, might not work for you. Yet, there are smart self-love actions that will work for you.

Catch Yourself to Know When You Need to Activate Ways to Learn to Love Yourself

Practicing self-love seems as natural as breathing, as normal as hearing water running through a kitchen spigot. But, loving yourself isn’t always easy. First, there are those nagging judgments to get beyond, thoughts like “you’re always making mistakes,” “everybody thinks you’re boring,” “your mother never was happy with you” or “nothing ever turns out right for you”.

It’s almost as if those nagging thoughts are coming from outside of you, from somewhere else. After all, who would talk to herself in such mean, painful ways?

Yet, think back. Doesn’t that nagging voice in your head sound just like your voice? Could it be that another part of your mind is hammering you with unkind thoughts and beliefs?

Don’t sit idle. Don’t allow the harsh, unloving talk to continue. You don’t want to start projecting those unloving thoughts, creating unkind experiences for yourself. Instead, learn to love yourself.

There are rewards. In fact, happiness and peace are only two major rewards that you gain when you learn self love. Confidence, improved self-esteem, opening to adventure, newness and playfulness are other rewards associated with self-love.

Reverse the Damage – Learn to Love Yourself

Check out these 11 ways to learn to love yourself. But don’t just look over the list of actions that you can take to express love to yourself. Put a few of these ways to learn to love yourself into action.

1. Speak one loving thought out loud to yourself in the morning while standing in front of a mirror. Also, speak this same loving thought to yourself at night before you go to bed. Again, stand in front of a mirror when you speak this loving thought to yourself.
2. Live in the present.
3. Do something fun outside. It could be as simple as sitting on the porch, riding a bike, walking or reading a book outside.
4. Write about a situation that you feel fear about (e.g. telling a friend that you’re not going to her party) in a journal. See if the fear doesn’t lower.
5. Sing and dance absent a care, just sing and dance

More Ways to Learn Self Love

1. Sit down and do nothing for 15 minutes before you go to bed. Treat yourself to a good night of sleep and rest.
2. Appreciate the light and beauty in others without comparing yourself to anyone.
3. Write down thoughts and behavior patterns you’d like to change. List actions you will take to change the thoughts and the behaviors. Be honest with yourself. Exercise your power.
4. Accept full responsibility for your thoughts and behaviors.
5. Say “No” when you don’t want to do something.
6. Forgive yourself when you make mistakes. If you do this effectively, you’ll also forgive others when they make mistakes.

Projecting What You Believe About Yourself

Sigmund Freud wrote about the concept of projection. It’s possible to project and not know it, but you will feel its effects. As shared in Psychology Today, projection is the act of “displacing one’s feelings onto a different person, animal or objects.” And yes. Projection can be positive. Also, projection can occur when you transfer or project lofty thoughts and feelings that you have for yourself onto another person, animal or object.

In fact, this happens when you project inner good thoughts and emotions onto an athlete, actress, business leader or community leader. Before you know it, you may elevate the person into celebrity. Imagine how you would treat yourself if you stopped projecting these positive thoughts and feelings onto another person and focused them on yourself.

Lifetime of Self Love

And if you keep positive thoughts healthy (instead of letting them drift into loftiness), you could start to love yourself in healthy ways. Try it. Incorporate a few of the ways to learn to love yourself shared in this article into your daily practices.

Make three or more of the 11 ways to learn to love yourself part of your inner patterns. Then, pay attention. See if you feel less guilt. Also, notice if you feel more empowered, safe and cared for. And, because self-love is an ongoing choice, be open to adding, removing and changing actions that you engage in to express love to yourself.

One more thing about projection. As you love yourself more deeply, you’ll extend that love to others. And it will be as natural as breathing, as normal as hearing water running out of a kitchen spigot. Learn more about love and its power in Love Pour Over Me.