Last Updated on December 19, 2022
‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself’ ~ Matthew 22:39
Whenever this scripture is mentioned, attention is almost immediately drawn to the bit about loving our neighbors. However, what most people don’t realize (and what this Biblical verse actually seems to emphasize) is that loving others begins with expressing love for ourselves. Love radiates from within the heart. So, you must already have an abundance of it to share with the world.
But contrary to popular belief, self-love isn’t the same as selfishness, conceitedness, or egotism. Self-love isn’t a question of prioritizing your needs and interests at the expense of other people’s. Rather, it entails recognizing and appreciating your self-worth.
Self-love is all about rooting for yourself even when the whole world turns its back on you. Once you can appreciate your self-worth, you’ll be able to take meaningful actions that support your growth at a physical, spiritual, emotional, and social level.
In this post, we take a look at 100 best affirmations to nurture self-love. But first things first.
Why Is Self-love Such A Big Deal?
As we’ve just pointed out, self-love is the foundation of loving others. It’s almost impossible to share love with the world if you don’t already love yourself. Remember that the kind of vibes you radiate out there depends on the relationship with yourself. If that relationship is full of anger and resentment, then that’s pretty much what you’ll share with other people.
Self-love can also help you attract love. Without inculcating self-love, you really cannot expect other people to appreciate your self-worth.
It’s also important to note that life exists in contrast. For instance, virtue can only thrive in the absence of vice, light in the absence of darkness, etc. Going by the same principle, it’s clear to see that the absence of self-love breeds self-hate and a host of other self-sabotaging thoughts. If entertained long enough, these negative emotions can deal a massive blow to your workplace productivity, psychosomatic health, physical wellbeing, and overall quality of life.
Last but not least, self-love can help improve your social and interpersonal relationships. It’s easier to interact with your family, friends, peers, coworkers, lovers, and even acquaintances if you love and believe in yourself.
Signs of a Lack of Self-love
Before you nurture self-love, it’s important to know the tell-tale signs that indicate your life is lacking in this quality.
You can tell that your life is devoid of self-love if you experience at least three of the following signs:
• Constantly feeling unloved and unlovable, even when you clearly have a partner that loves you dearly
• Recurrent feelings of self-doubt
• Feelings of untrustworthiness
• Lack of confidence in your own skin, often characterized by an unreasonable desire to wear loud makeup or eccentric hairstyles and clothing
• Hypervigilance
• Obsession with perfectionism
• Obsession with failures than accomplishments
• Being withdrawn from your family, friends, and peers
• Poor communication skills, often characterized by difficulty speaking up
• Eating disorders, which could result in unintentional weight gain or loss
• Being overly critical about yourself and other people
• Excessive feelings of worry and mental fatigue
• Social anxiety disorder – a mental condition where you get exceedingly anxious when in public places
• You delight in following, not leading
• Lack of boundaries in your relationship and private life
• Feelings of contentment, coupled with the fear to venture beyond your comfort zones
• Lack of assertiveness
• Being brusque with others
How to Practice Self-love and the Role of Positive Affirmations
Without timely interventions, a lack of self-love might breed a host of self-limiting thoughts. Fortunately, it’s possible to practice self-love and rid your life of all the negativity.
The following are examples of tips you can implement to nurture self-love:
• Focus on self-forgiveness as opposed to self-criticism
• Forgive others, especially those who deserve your forgiveness the least
• Always reassure yourself whenever you’re about to embark on an arduous task or immediately after failing in an endeavor
• Celebrate your successes while also embracing your failures
• Dedicate some time every day for rest and self-care
• Speak to yourself as though you were speaking to a close friend
• Trust your gut instincts
• Avoid being a people pleaser
• Set personal boundaries
• Be more assertive in your decisions
• Boldly pursue fun activities, including your hobbies and guilty pleasures
• Use positive affirmations
Positive affirmations are personal mantras spoken or written as a way of combating self-sabotaging thoughts. Self-love affirmations are specifically geared towards helping you nurture love for yourself.
If repeated long enough and coupled with the right actions, self-love affirmations can help foster a healthy relationship with yourself.
All you need to do is recite these affirmations in your head every morning or whenever you’re confronted with negative self-thoughts. You can also write the affirmations down in a journal or stick them in strategic places, such as on your living room wall or office desk.
100 Powerful Self-Love Affirmations
1. At least I tried.
2. Everybody messes up sometimes.
3. I accept my failures, but they don’t define me.
4. I accept my fears and doubts, and try anyways.
5. I adapt and change to my circumstances. I flow like a river.
6. I allow myself to love who I am, not who I think I should be.
7. I am a diamond-in-the-rough, all I need is some polishing.
8. I am beautiful/gorgeous/unique/special/confident in my own skin.
9. I am capable of doing anything I put my mind to.
10. I am enough.
11. I am exactly who I need to be.
12. I am gentle with myself and appreciative of my mistakes. I understand they’re a great way to learn.
13. I am increasing my prosperity every day.
14. I am learning from my mistakes.
15. I am more than enough.
16. I am only human.
17. I am surrounded by love.
18. I am whole just as I am.
19. I am worthy of love, flaws and all.
20. I am worthy. I am loved. I am enough.
21. I attract positive and loving people into my life.
22. I can feel love whenever I choose to.
23. I can let this go and move forward.
24. I celebrate my many successes.
25. I choose myself.
26. I choose to think positively about myself.
27. I deserve everything I desire.
28. I do not need anyone to feel worthy.
29. I do not need someone else to feel happiness.
30. I follow my own heart, not the expectations of others.
31. I have a loving relationship with my body.
32. I have all I need to live a happy life.
33. I have all the love inside me that I need.
34. I have complete faith in my abilities.
35. I have so much to love about myself.
36. I have the power to change my world.
37. I have unique and special ideas to share with the world.
38. I honor and respect my limitations.
39. I let go of the things that hold me back.
40. I love my own company.
41. I love the person that I’ve become and the person I’m destined to be.
42. I matter.
43. I radiate love.
44. I release myself from the weight of my regrets.
45. I revoke permission to punish myself for my mistakes.
46. I shouldn’t be so hard on myself.
47. I treat my body with love and care.
48. I trust in my ability to make it through difficult times.
49. I try my best, and that is all I can do.
50. I will be assertive when I need to be.
51. I will care for myself as much as I care for others.
52. I will gladly embrace the experiences the Universe deals to me.
53. I will not take criticism personally.
54. I will stand my ground and defend myself whenever it comes down to it.
55. Imperfections are part of the beauty of life.
56. Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.
57. Life is what you make it.
58. Like everyone, I have both strengths and weaknesses.
59. Love is accessible to me at all times.
60. Love is always flowing from and towards me.
61. Loving myself comes to me easily.
62. Loving myself means I am able to love others more.
63. My body is my best friend.
64. My decisions are based on inner wisdom.
65. My future will be better than my past.
66. My goal is progress, not perfection.
67. My imperfections are what make me unique.
68. My imperfections make me unique and special.
69. My individuality is important.
70. My inner beauty shines brightly.
71. My inner world creates my outer world.
72. My life is a place of balance and harmony.
73. My life is a reflection of the love inside me.
74. My life is abundant.
75. My life is exactly where I desire it to be.
76. My life is full of adventure and incredible experiences.
77. My life is full of endless opportunities for success and happiness.
78. My life is simply amazing!
79. My love is infinite.
80. My love is unconditional.
81. My own love is the best kind of love.
82. My past does not determine my future.
83. My past failures cannot define my future aspirations.
84. My struggles are a stepping stone to a better tomorrow.
85. My struggles are just opportunities to learn.
86. Negativity has no place in my life.
87. One horrible failure doesn’t mean I’m insufficient. It only means I’m human.
88. Positive thinking creates positive thoughts and positive thoughts create positive realities.
89. Success is defined by my willingness to keep going.
90. The more I practice loving myself, the more lovable I become.
91. The only approval I need is my own.
92. The Universe is generous with health, joy, and abundance!
93. The Universe supports me, always.
94. Today I choose to stop apologizing for being me.
95. Today I choose to view myself through kind eyes.
96. Today I release the need to judge myself negatively.
97. Today I resolve to love myself more each day.
98. Today, I choose me.
99. True happiness lies within.
100. We are all works in progress.
Final Word
Self-love ordinarily takes time to cultivate. However, the right positive affirmations can help you develop a healthy relationship with yourself much faster.
Dedicate some time each day reciting the above self-love affirmations and it will only be a matter of time before you experience the positive transformation you desire.