Eight Unexpected But Surprisingly Effective Methods Of Enhancing Your Relationship With Yourself

Eight Unexpected But Surprisingly Effective Methods Of Enhancing Your Relationship With Yourself

By TLB Contributing Writer: Nirdesh

When you think about relationships, what comes to mind? The usual answer is relating with someone else – could be a co-worker, significant other, your friends or your family. However, we miss the most important aspect of relationships – our relationship with our own selves.

Relationships require effort to maintain and build, and your relations with yourself are not different to the rule. Several methods exist to help you out, as you cannot have a sustainable relationship with others without first taking the time to love yourself first. Once you reach a place that you are comfortable with who you are, you will start to find more positive experiences in all aspects of your life.

Here are several ways that can help you enhance your relationship with yourself, at least according to relationship experts.

Write a journal

The best place to begin when you want to love yourself is knowing who you are. Among the most overlooked aspects in this area is journaling, but it happens to be surprisingly effective in helping you know yourself.

It provides you with a great way to see your thoughts on different aspects of yourself, as well as acting as a method of knowing your motivations for decision making in hindsight. As you write your thoughts down, your mind gets clearer, helping you solve problems and reduce stress as well.

Setting boundaries

Relationships take work. And that applies to any relationship that you are in, teaching you to stand u for yourself and assert your rights. In fact, the behavior of speaking up when something is bothering you or when you are expressing your needs is a way to show someone else and yourself that you are worthy of respect.

This makes other people treat you well, which in turn improves your self-worth. Regardless of the type of relationship you are in, not settling for less informs others that you respect yourself.

Meditate

Meditation has many benefits for many people – such as improving self-worth. It helps you to practice some mindfulness, and get away from the inner critic within you.

The result is a more compassionate view of life and other people, as well as an open and observant attitude regarding any of your internal experiences. It allows you to step back and perceive any negative attitudes you may have within yourself, and stop them before they fester and cause negativity in your relations. You can compare it to marijuana detoxes that marijuana addicts must go through to rid their bodies of the harmful effects of the drug.

Volunteering for a good cause

Giving back to the less fortunate has more benefits than you think. It helps you feel valuable and more confident, as you are doing a small part in improving the life of someone else.

Donating some of your resources and time to a charity or organization is a way of sharing your energy and talents to others, but it assists in boosting your self esteem and boosting the feeling of social connection, helping to fight depression and loneliness.

Allowances for failure

School is cruel, and life is cruel – it teaches you that failure is not an option. From the time you have been a student, the emphasis is being the best at what you do, and this creates unnecessary pressure to succeed, until you see that it is not worth it anymore.

Failure does not look like an exciting option – that much is understandable. However, the flip side is that failure actually teaches you much wisdom about yourself and your character. That is simply because it forces you to step back, analyze what you did wrong, think about any alternatives you can explore, and prepare yourself better in future. In fact, failure is not as bad as school or life may have taught you – when you learn to accept failure, you learn to trust yourself, and it reassures you that the world does not end just because you did not succeed.

Challenge yourself to do new things

New things are always exciting, but you will never know the full extent of something if you do not do it. For that thing or experience you have always wanted to try, today is the best chance to try it and see what it gives you.

Getting out of your comfort zone and challenging yourself gently to experience something new gives you the chance to accomplish new things, making your confidence and self-esteem grow, not to mention the new things you will learn about yourself.

Leave social media alone – at least once in a while

The age of social media has brought with it good things such as connecting with your friends and seeing how they are faring, but it has also brought the unpleasant aspect of perfection and competing to see whose life looks better – all for keeping up appearances.

It is human nature to want to compare yourself to others, but you need to remember that people are not always honest online – they always want to present the best image of themselves on social media. When you realize this, you stop comparing yourself to others, and you begin to let go of unrealistic standards.

That is the reason getting off of your social media feeds is important – it reminds you of more important things in your life, other than showing the world how perfect your life is. Logging off gives you a chance to spend more time with yourself and develop your =own self-worth, leading you to have a more enhanced relationship, both with others and yourself.

Plan ahead

It is equally important to set goals for different time frames in your life. These can be short, long and mid-term goals, and having different milestones for every goal. All this helps you to stay focused on improving yourself and achieve life goals along the way.

These can include joining a new class that you have always wanted to pursue, spending time on a new hobby or interest, and picking up a new habit that you like from someone you admire.

Final thoughts

You cannot love others effectively when you do not love yourself first. With that said, learning to appreciate who you are is a journey you need to take on your own, as it will help you figure out your self worth and internalize the fact that you are unique and valuable.

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