Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
What defines a beautiful young woman? To me, a beautiful young woman is one with unique features that make her stand out from the crowd, and one with an exquisite personality that’s so radiant it illuminates from within the person. So since no person is the same and has unique features or personalities from another, then that makes everyone quite beautiful. Unfortunately, about 85 percent of people have low self-esteem according to NBC news, and 79 percent of them are women according to the We Are the City Website. If you are part of the 85 percent then you have come to the right place to build self-love.
Workout and Fitness
Whether you are trying to gain muscle or lose weight, working out is a great way to feel better about yourself. Although it takes some time to see results the first day you workout automatically you will feel good about yourself for being fit.
Another fitness method you can use is yoga, yoga is very calming and can cleanse the body. Yoga is also taught in a great environment and you are surrounded by people that want to stay fit and active which brings lots of positive influence and energy to your life.
Affirmations
I am enough, I will allow myself to make mistakes, I am gorgeous, I accept my mistakes, I am smart, I am talented, and I Iove myself. These are just some affirmations you can tell yourself whether that be in the morning, in the middle of your day, or at nighttime. You might prefer to do it in the morning and start your day with something positive. Or you can write your affirmations and use them as a wallpaper for your phone so it’s the first thing you see.
Cutting Negative Things Out of Your Life
When you are building and working on yourself it’s important to take away any negative energy, thoughts, or people that might affect your progress. If it’s on social media, simply blocking or removing that person as a friend will suffice and only allow people in your life that you know will benefit you. So ask yourself, Is this person helping me move forward towards a healthy life? Or is this person making me stay exactly in the same place I am in now? If you really can not get rid of the person(s) then learn to not worry about that person’s opinion and value your own.
Social Media Cleanse
If you find yourself comparing your body, goals, features, or accomplishments on a certain app or feel very insecure, then it’s best to also cut out some social media or all! You must keep in mind that your worth or value doesn’t lie in how you look. If social media is something you are always on then take baby steps and start by limiting your time on the app and fill in that time with working and building on your self-love. You can also fill in that time with productive things or hobbies you enjoy!
Bettering Yourself and Health
Bettering yourself and your health can be drinking more water in your day, eating healthier that means cutting out junk food or foods with heavy usage of salt or caffeine, or it can be mentally with only thinking positive thoughts and straying away from negative thoughts that ultimately give you a fixed mindset. As well as overthinking like What if…?. Filling your life with positive things can also be listening to uplifting music like Independent Women by Destinys Child or Women by Doja Cat. lastly, statistically, sitting straight helps build confidence and good posture which is also great practice for better health.
Self-love Workbooks
If these methods don’t work, then self-love workbooks are the best alternative. These workbooks help you build confidence and take you on a step-by-step journey of self-exploration, digging deep into why you might have low self-esteem, and at the end of the workbook, you will feel better about yourself and love yourself. You can find these workbooks cheap on Amazon or Target.
Stop Comparing: Believe You are Enough
Stop comparing your beautiful body to others. When we see people on social media with the mentality that they have a better body, that their prettier, better, or perfect. Then you are nowhere close to loving yourself. You need to believe you are enough and that girl, period. You need to believe you are gorgeous in every way possible and will be successful. You need to shift this idea of perfect in your head because no one is perfect. If you see a person who you think is pretty don’t compare yourself, next time think, “That person is beautiful and very successful but, I am beautiful and successful too.”
Take the Time for YOU! (Self-care)
Put yourself first! Building self-love also means spending time with yourself. That may be:
- Reading a book while soothing music plays in the background
- Doing some of your hobbies
- Taking a bubble bath with a face mask on
- Painting how you feel
- Working out
- Taking time for your skincare routine
- Staying off social media
- Watching a show you’ve been wanting to watch
- Doing your hair/makeup and dressing up for you
- Listening to white noise while meditating, or journaling about your day or thoughts
Building self-love may take days, weeks, months, or years to do. For me, it took a couple of years, so don’t rush the process and be patient with yourself. Over time, I’ve also seen progress in my mental state and physical state, and some of the methods I used that really helped me gain self-love was hyping myself up and working out.
Self-love is a beautiful thing and hopefully, you can build it using some of my methods or others. Self-love is very common in teenage girls because of social media, etcetera. Remember, start your self-love journey by believing that you are enough and YOU are beautiful.
YESSS LOVE YOU ARE AMAZINGGG
YOU DID AND AWESOME JOB
We think so too!