Discover how to focus on yourself with self-love and personal growth tips. Learn effective strategies for setting boundaries, mindfulness, and achieving personal growth.
It’s easy to de-prioritise yourself and your well-being with the daily stressors of life taking over. Most of us are constantly stuck in the daily rut of putting others before ourselves. If you struggle to find a moment for yourself and find time to do the things you love, then this article is for you. First, let’s begin by understanding what it means to love yourself.
What is Self-Love?
Self-love is the practice of improving your relationship with yourself and carving out time from your daily routine to do the things that bring you joy. It means giving yourself as much attention and care as you offer those around you. It means allowing yourself to prioritise your mental and physical well-being without guilt. Self-love invites you to set boundaries with others if you constantly make unhealthy sacrifices for others.
SoulSensei has a lovely 2-minute video discussing how you can find and set these boundaries – Sacrifice In Relationships: Finding Healthy Boundaries
Self-love is committing to yourself so that you will live your best life according to your own rules. It means to reclaim control and power over your life and to focus on yourself. Self-love requires you to get in touch with your emotions and to understand your needs better. It encourages you to strive towards self-improvement and personal growth at your own pace. Several effective ways to achieve personal growth include meditation, practising mindfulness, paced breathing and more. When you start practising self-love, you will experience several benefits, such as higher self-esteem, better quality of life, easier goal achievement, better relationships, increased creativity, and happiness. So, let’s answer: how do you focus on yourself?
How to Focus on Yourself
Even though practising self-love might feel like a lot of work, it isn’t if you can imbibe small and easy ways to do it, as listed below.
1. Engage in Self-Care
The best way to focus on yourself is to set up a daily self-care routine. It could be as small as taking 10 minutes every day to meditate, work out, or even do a skincare routine. Self-care could mean different things to different individuals, but the key is to do something that nourishes your mental and physical well-being.
2. Listen to Yourself
When we say ‘listen,’ it really means to hear your inner voice actively. Pay attention to what your body and mind are trying to tell you. Our bodies are constantly trying to communicate with us, but we often fail to hear it. If you want to focus on yourself, you must honour the needs of your body and mind.
3. Try Journaling
Writing down your thoughts and feelings in a physical or digital diary is a great way to focus on yourself. This helps with practising mindfulness and getting in touch with your emotions. Begin by writing a few lines about how you felt throughout the day and why you felt it. Then, try to make this a habit.
Explore: How to Set Up a Daily Routine to Practice Mindfulness with Dr. Devika
4. Embrace Joyful Activities
Do more of what brings you joy. It could be cooking, gardening, exercising, painting, dancing, etc. A great way to do this could be by enrolling in classes that teach you or help you improve these activities.
5. Actively Rest
To better focus on yourself, it’s important to prioritise rest and good sleep hygiene. In a society that constantly keeps you on your toes, be someone who rests actively. Take breaks throughout the day and prioritise eight or more hours of sleep.
Try this sleep meditation from SoulSensei before bed to wake up well-rested and rejuvenated.
6. Take a Digital Detox
When you’re constantly online, it’s easy to fall into the rabbit hole of comparisons and become overwhelmed with information. Declutter your life and take regular digital detoxes to live a happier and more fulfilled life.
7. Celebrate What You’ve Achieved
Even though your achievements may not feel like a big deal, make sure you celebrate them no matter how small. To truly focus on yourself, you must embrace who you are and what you bring.
Top Self-Love Tips for Personal Growth
Below are some proven tips to improve your personal growth and to practice self-love daily:
- Speak to yourself with just as much kindness as anyone else.
- Practice positive affirmations and mindfulness by doing daily meditations.
- Celebrate your strengths and weaknesses, no matter how big or small.
- Take regular digital detoxes to reconnect with yourself and nature.
- Pursue your interests with activities that spark joy for you.
- Set clear boundaries with those around you.
- Nourish your body by eating healthy and your mind by prioritising rest.
- Practice gratitude for your body, your mind and your abilities.
Goal Setting For Personal Growth
Personal Growth can look different for different people, so when setting goals for yourself, be patient and realistic. It’s important to be kind to yourself and practice self-compassion when setting these goals. For example, if your goal is to become a less anxious individual or be fitter by the end of the year, strive towards it and stick to your routine, but don’t beat yourself up if it isn’t achieved. You must remember that you’re human, after all, and you’re doing your best.
In this fast-paced world, putting yourself first is challenging, but for better quality of life and increased happiness, it’s essential to focus on improving yourself. There are many ways to do this. You can try journaling, take a digital detox, set up a self-care routine and more. You can also work on goal setting to improve your life and imbibe some of the tips given above to grow yourself personally. Numerous self-help courses on SoulSensei are available to enhance your personal growth and help you practice self-love.
Sources
- How to focus on yourself- Dr Chris Mosunic (online)
- What self-love truly means and how to cultivate it – Allaya Cooks-Campbell (online)
