Self-love is a transformative journey that allows you to enjoy in a deep appreciation and acceptance of yourself, that’s also an ongoing process that can bring about positive changes in various aspects of life. But how to know when you’ve started loving yourself?
How To Know When You’ve Started Loving Yourself (5 Signs To Look For)
To help you figure this out, in this blog post, I’ll uncover 5 key signs that indicate you’re on the good path of self-love and personal fulfillment and that you’re doing great!
Let’s explore this together.
Note: Although I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), engaging with this website does not establish a professional social worker-client relationship. The information provided here is for general purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. While we strive to ensure accuracy and reliability, this content is not a substitute for professional guidance. For specific concerns, issues, or situations, it is essential to consult a qualified professional and present your situation. Read the full Disclaimer here.
HOW TO KNOW WHEN YOU’VE STARTED LOVING YOURSELF
1. YOU’VE BECOME MORE AUTHENTIC AND LESS CONVENTIONAL
When you begin to love yourself, you’ll notice a shift towards living more authentically. You become less concerned with meeting societal expectations, and you’re less likely to cave to social pressure. Which means you’ve successfully become focused on aligning your actions and choices with your true needs, desires, and values.
And you’ll feel empowered to express your unique personality and opinions, choosing your own way rather than uncritically conforming to societal norms and conventions.
This opens the space for you to embrace your true passions and pursue activities that genuinely resonate with your interests and bring you joy, regardless of societal expectations. As well as for honoring your core values which you prioritize in order to make decisions in alignment with them that are in your best interests, even if they deviate from conventional norms.
Finally, you feel comfortable expressing your true, unapologetic, authentic self through your style, creativity, or communication.
You are probably interested in reading a post: How To Live A More Authentic Life That Feels Good And True To You
2. YOU SENSE AN INCREASE IN SELF-ESTEEM
Self-love goes hand in hand with a significant boost in self-esteem. As you develop a genuine acceptance and appreciation for who you are, your self-esteem begins to grow, positively impacting various or all aspects of your life.
Self-esteem comes is having a genuine positive self-image and recognizing your inherent worth, and acknowledge that you have unique qualities, talents, and skills and so much to offer.
What’s also essential here is a supportive-enough inner dialogue that can mitigate self-criticism and bring more self-compassion and encouragement.
Additionally, with more self-esteem come healthy boundaries that protect your well-being and honor your needs, thereby fostering a sense of self-respect. And as you know this can be crucial for maintaining fulfilling relationships.
While being on topic of self-esteem, let’s talk about some resources you may find helpful if you feel you need to deal with self-esteem challenges.
Paid link: Self-Love Workbook for Women: Release Self-Doubt, Build Self-Compassion, and Embrace Who You Are (Self-Love Workbook and Journal)
Embrace who you are with this guided self-love book for women of any age and any background. You’ll embark on your journey of self-discovery by learning what self-love is, and then immersing yourself in exercises to help you build your self-esteem and improve or elevate your relationships.
This very successful self-Love workbook created by a fellow Megan Logan, LCSW is designed with a clear intention to empower women on their journey of self-discovery and self-love. So if you like my approach to self-love you’ll probably like this. Because as you’ll see that I always emphasize that to increase self-love we need some practice and endurance and to show consistency.
The self-love workbooks typically include exercises, prompts, and activities that encourage self-reflection, self-compassion, and self-care, in addition to practical tools and strategies for setting boundaries, managing stress and anxiety, and cultivating healthier habits.
By getting a self-love workbook, you’re benefiting from a valuable resource that can empower you to take control of your mental and emotional health, develop a more positive and compassionate relationship with yourself, and in the end, improve your overall well-being.
I’ve collected a few helpful Self-Love Workbooks in my post: The Best Self-Love Workbooks To Help You Finally Break Free From Self-judgement Through Self-Compassion And Self-Acceptance.
You may want to also check out alternatively (or combine the 2 workbooks):
Paid link: Self-Love Workbook for Black Women: Empowering Exercises to Build Self-Compassion and Nurture Your True Self (Self-Love Workbook and Journal)
As an African American woman, juggling many roles can leave little time for self-care. With this in mind, here’s an empowering self-love and self-care workbook designed to help you prioritize your joy, healing, and growth, with affirmations and exercises that nurture your authentic self.
Embrace self-love, build inner peace, and cultivate confidence while exploring themes of self-compassion and community.
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3. YOU BECAME MORE INDEPENDENT AND DETERMINED (MAKING YOUR OWN DECISIONS)
Loving yourself means becoming less reliant on external validation for making a move towards your desired actions, plans, or goals and less needy of consistent support and encouragement along the way. This doesn’t mean support is ever a bad thing.
However, if you can’t do much without support and company this signals insecurity and co-dependency.
So it’s about becoming more independent in making your choices and your doings that also don’t need to follow someone else’s.
Plus, you’ll discover a newfound ability to make decisions based on your own desires and needs, rather than seeking constant approval from others.
This contributes to making empowered choices where you trust yourself to make decisions that align with your aspirations and values, without relying on others to necessarily praise your choices.
Additionally you may find that you have started appreciating and enjoying spending time alone, valuing the opportunity for self-reflection, introspection, and personal growth.
As a positive side effect of this will be better self-care practices that nurture your physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.
Speaking of practices and activities, you may find this helpful:
Paid link: SELF-CARE ACTIVITIES FOR WOMEN: 101 PRACTICAL WAYS TO SLOW DOWN AND RECONNECT WITH YOURSELF
Prioritizing well-being is crucial, especially for women who often/usually prioritize others.
“Self-Care Activities for Women” offers a variety of ways to relax and find joy, covering emotional, mental, physical, social, and professional care.
With 101 simple activities, from creating a joy playlist to cooking a healthy meal, this book encourages making time for ourselves and cultivating a habit of self-check-ins.
4. YOU EXPERIENCE GROWTH OF INDIVIDUALITY
Loving yourself involves embracing your individuality with having courage to show it and recognizing that your uniqueness is a valuable asset and that it doesn’t have to meet dominant mainstream standards to be acceptable.
For some groups this is very challenging because they may face exclusion, even marginalization because of simply being who they are. But that doesn’t mean that those people have to lack sellf-love. Quite the opposite.
They may have more love for themselves than people who ‘fit’ the dominant sociocultural ‘standards’. But it’s highly logical if they don’t as they keep getting negative messages and even maltreatment and harassment or systemic abuse.
You’ll witness more self-love and personal growth as you focus on your own unique strengths, explore your passions, and discover your true potential that comes with relying on your individuality. This means that you let go of the pressing urge to fit into molds or comparisons, and instead celebrate your individuality and embrace the qualities that set you apart.
If you think about it, this way you open the door to continuous self-improvement whether through acquiring new skills, pursuing education, or engaging in self-development practices. It’s even possible to finally confront and better manage self-doubt and limiting beliefs, realizing that you have the power to shape your own destiny.
If you found the information on the blog helpful & inspirational and you feel like giving back, you can do it by clicking the donate button after entering amount you’re comfortable with. I’ll use it to create and deliver more useful content and resources like this. Thanks for your precious contribution!
5. MORE SELF-ACCEPTANCE AND SELF-AWARENESS
One of the most significant signals of loving yourself is being able to cultivate more self-acceptance. This is also a prerequisite for self-love as you have to accept where you are and who you are to be able to move forward and change things you need or desire to change.
For this process to work out it’s critical to learn to embrace imperfections and integrate this in your perspective of yourself. So you accept yourself as a whole, embracing your imperfections and flaes and viewing them as acceptable to have while also being opportunities for growth.
When people experience challenges with self-love they usually have trouble getting in touch with parts of themselves they don’t approve of and/or believe others wouldn’t approve and would seen as faulty, so this integration is a great accomplishment.
This process had to have started with raise in self-awareness that came as a consequence of mindfulness and introspection practices.
With these practices you allow yourself to observe your thoughts and emotions without judgment, and gain a deeper understanding of your inner self. You become attuned to your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, fostering a compassionate and non-judgmental relationship with yourself.
With raise of self-compassion you develop a kind and nurturing attitude toward yourself, treating yourself with empathy and understanding.
This can positively impact the need for excessive comparison and internalising that your worth is not (pre)determined by external standards for achievements and success. Especially if they don’t really align with prosocial values and are exclusively available to only certain, narrow group of individuals.
Here’s a resource you may find helpful if you’re focused on increasing self-acceptance:
Paid link: SELF-LOVE JOURNAL FOR WOMEN: Prompts and Practices for Your Journey to Self-Worth, Self-Care, and Self-Acceptance (Workbook and Journal)
Self-love journals often include prompts for self-care activities and practices. By prioritizing self-care and making it a regular part of your routine, you can nurture your physical, emotional, and mental well-being.
This Self-Love journal includes prompts and practices for taking a path of self-worth, self-care, and self-acceptance.
Women everywhere encounter unrealistic societal expectations that lead to feelings of overwhelm and discontent with themselves. However, discovering the path to self-love and embracing our uniqueness can significantly alter our perspective on life, and this guided journal is designed for just that.
Paid link: A Year of Self-Care: Daily Practices and Inspiration for Caring for Yourself (A Year of Daily Reflections)
This is a 12-week anxiety and self care journal that will help you process what’s occupying your mind and gently re-frame your thoughts, so you can manage your worries before they get to spiral out of control. This could potentially help if you’re feeling anxious even to start self-exploration.
It was designed to meet you where you are and guide you to developing a practice of dedicating a few minutes a day to reflect on your thoughts, detect the sources of your anxiety, and prioritize your overall wellness and mental health. This is dedicating a few minutes to yourself you really need.
It has:
- Daily Journaling Pages
- Self-Care Ideas
- Therapy Reflections
- Emotional Support Cheat Sheet
- Fear-Setting Exercises
- Habit Trackers
- Monthly Progress
You’ll probably find these post useful:
OTHER SELF-LOVE RESOURCES
Self-love resources are tools, materials, or support systems designed to help you develop a positive relationship with yourself by learning about yourself and knowing yourself better, enhancing self-esteem, and cultivating a sense of self-worth. Check some of them out:
Paid link: The 5-Minute Self-Care Journal for Women: Prompts, Practices, and Affirmations to Prioritize You
This journal offers quick and easy self-care practices to meet your needs amidst a busy life.
It stands out with 150 uplifting prompts promoting growth mindset, mindfulness, and positive intentions.
Spend just 5 minutes on self-love with its effortless questions, affirmations, and actions.
Plus, its user-friendly design makes reflection recording enjoyable.
Paid link: Self-Love Journal for Teen Girls: Prompts and Practices to Inspire Confidence and Celebrate You
If you’re a teen (or get this for your teen if you’re a parent) start the new year by encouraging yourself to embrace self-love and confidence.
The Self-Love Journal for Teen Girls offers affirmations, reflective prompts, and creative activities that can help you understand your emotions and celebrate your uniqueness.
With uplifting quotes and practical exercises, it’s a powerful tool for fostering self-awareness, self-worth, and self-care.
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FINAL THOUGHTS ON HOW TO KNOW YOU STARTED LOVING YOURSELF
It’s a good idea to know you started loving yourself because recognizing these signs will positively contribute to the success of your journey of self-discovery and personal growth.
As you begin to appreciate and love yourself truly you become more authentic, confident, independent, and self-aware, and experience a profound transformation in how you perceive and relate to yourself.
Embracing self-love brings more fulfillment and inner peace as a positive consequence allowing you to live a life that truly reflects your values and desires.
If you weren’t ready before, start loving yourself today by finding a suitable resource for you specifically!
Good luck and I’ll see you in my next post! Before you go, check out:
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