You're reading Love Yourself First: Why It Is a Prerequisite for Success, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you're enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
If you ask most people if they love
themselves, the answer will be yes. But more often than not, this is not true.
For most people, what they feel about themselves is conditional love.
If you care more about what others
think of you than what you feel, or if your happiness solely depends on the
approval of others, even when such approvals follow acts of compromise on your
happiness, then you only love yourself conditionally.
When you genuinely love yourself, you
accept yourself for who you are. You accept the fact that there are things
about yourself that cannot be changed, and you come to terms with it. Your
sense of self-esteem will no longer depend on what others think of you, but in
your belief in your ability to take on life with all its challenges.
To find success in life, you need to
love yourself. When you accept who you are, warts and all, you will be able to
identify your passions. You become the best version of yourself only when you
do things that put your soul on fire. You start to live passionately when you
resolve to do things that align with your core essence.
Reasons Why Loving Yourself First is Crucial to Success
in Life:
Reasons why loving yourself brings
success and happiness and not the other way round:
1. Loving yourself helps you take charge of your life
You may be the type that gives in
readily to pressure, and you get easily intimidated. You make choices to please
others that you know you will regret.
It is also possible that you simply go
through life by following the template that others have laid down for you
without any thought as to what makes you happy.
It is time you understand the fact that
you are the essential factor in your life. It is time you take firm control of
your life. Taking control of your life means you understand that you have the
right to choose how you will live your life. You only make choices that align
with your happiness, aspirations and goals in life.
Taking control of your life also makes
it easy to say no. Most people will say ‘yes’ to anything without considering
how such a decision will impact their priorities. Saying ‘no’ helps you to
avoid overcommitting and taking on responsibilities that will stress you and
make you develop a negative perception of the world.
2. It will boost your self-esteem
Some people spend their whole life
trying to avoid conflict. When they are challenged, they give in quickly, and
they end up feeling disappointed in themselves.
If you learn to love yourself, you will
shed the need to keep pleasing others at all costs. You will start to focus on
standing up for yourself and letting go of people who derive joy in exploiting
you. When you have a healthy self-respect, others will be compelled to respect
you as well.
A sound sense of self-esteem will also
eliminate the need to get the approval of others. When you love who you are, your
confidence in yourself will come from within. You will be less concerned about
the negative opinions of others, and you will focus on creating and walking
your path.
Telling you to love yourself does not
mean you should become a narcissist or a self-centered individual. Instead, it
means you should remove the pressure to be everything the world around you
wants you to be, and instead focus on what makes you happy.
When you love yourself, you celebrate
your positive qualities, and you accept your flaws. This self-love is the path
to a greater sense of self-esteem that leads to success. Only people who
believe entirely in themselves can achieve great success in life.
3. You will be able to make decisions that are right for you
When we always try to please others and
be accepted by others, it becomes almost impossible to make decisions that are
best for our interests.
If you mostly derive your sense of self
from what others think of you, you make career choices to please them, and you
may make bad life-changing decisions because that is what others expect of you.
When you love yourself, you will only
make decisions that improve the quality of your life.
You
prioritize your happiness, your mental wellbeing, your goals, and your dreams.
You must be at home with the fact that
not everyone will like the authentic you. Making the right choices for your
life means you know that you will never get the approval and praise of everyone
in your life.
When your focus shifts to your
happiness, you will become more invested in your goals, and this will bring you
much success and true happiness.
In closing
When you love who you are, your goals and passions will define you. Accomplishing your goals will become central to your plans, your goals become personal, and you will be extremely motivated to achieve them.
Bernz JP is the blogger behind Moneylogue.com. Bernz believes that financial knowledge and the right mindset are the two main ingredients of financial success. He is a writer and loves to write about the importance of practicing self-discipline to achieve success in life.
You've read Love Yourself First: Why It Is a Prerequisite for Success, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you've enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.