Finding Creativity And using It To Harness Self-Love -2

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So what does self-love mean to you? For many of us, it can be defined as appreciating ourselves, taking care of our health, spiritual growth, taking a vacation, lush baths, face masks and going to bed early. There is so much more to it than you already know. Loving yourself is facing everything you hate about yourself. And if you recently found out you can love yourself it is absolutely fine.

The story of Irina (not her real name) comes to mind. Irina lived all her life not knowing that she can love herself. The question is how can she love others if she doesn’t love herself. Because to love others you have to understand what love is. The problem is she never knew or understand what real love is because she has never experienced being loved given the environment she grew up in. Not enough love or acceptance – or none at all, added to that is humiliation. She held on to her shortcomings, mistakes, and poor decision making, ignoring her good qualities. As a matter of fact, how can anyone truly love others, and at the same time be unable to love themselves?

I believe that to love oneself, first, you must know and understand your worth. Knowing your worth and understanding yourself is personal and has nothing to do with others.

The concept of self-love is the state of appreciation for yourself. If you fail to understand this, you’ll always be sacrificing your well-being to make others happy.

There is so much to know and learn about self-love but first self-worth …

Self-worth can be defined as the degree of importance you place on yourself. It involves how and what you feel about yourself and the value you give to yourself. Ultimately it is your sense of value and worth you place on yourself as an individual.

How do you feel about yourself? What kind of words are you using to describe yourself? What value do you place on yourself?

Thirty-one-year-old Josephine is a budding PhD student and academic who presents herself as mannerly, self-respecting and gracious among her colleagues and students as opposed to when she is not around them and socialising with her friends and boyfriend, always criticizing and generally placing a negative value on herself as an individual. She often relates to them about how difficult it is to maintain “a face” when she is among her colleagues. Some days she can’t wait to get home to “be herself.” Even her friends and boyfriends are of questionable character. What made Josephine choose this type of people to be around, and only seems to be happy when she is around them. The kind of person she exudes when she is not among her colleagues and students is the “true colour” of who she is. The way she views herself is not who she truly is. She is a woman of worth and value but what would it take for her to recognize this?

Many times in your life you portray an image of Josephine. Feelings of worthlessness. But no matter what you will never lose your value. It is there. All it takes is for you to recognize it. We are all valuable and worthwhile. Recognizing and cultivating self-worth is personal and is not dependent on others and their perception of you.

Here are five ways to cultivate self-worth

• Eliminate self-criticism and replace it with self-compassion
• Stop focusing on your failures
• Refrain from judging yourself
• Surround yourself with people who fits your future
• Practice positivity to boost your perception of yourself

When you know your worth you make wise decisions which means you will choose to be around people who inspire you. Having a sense of self-worth allows you to accept yourself for who you are and you know you deserve every good thing in life regardless of negativity around you and the unfortunate of life. When you know your worth you know what you deserve and what you have to offer. You won’t go around with negative self-talk or people who don’t align with your goals. You will know that you are deserving of love, care, respect and compassion.

Having self-worth will lead you to a place of self-love. To truly love yourself you must first see yourself deserving to be loved and worthy of being loved. Having self-love enable you to recognize so many things about yourself your talent, dreams and aspiration and creativeness will come alive when you embrace who you are.

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Finding Creativity And using It To Harness Self-Love -1

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What are you passionate about? Your passion is a deep feeling or emotion or a strong liking. Example: She has a passion for acting. Every day the word is tossed around but have you ever thought or tried to identify the things you’d relish doing during your lifetime, and by identifying these activities and practicing them you can contribute to your personal development and harness your creative power and self-love?

Sure, reading and repetition of positive affirmation aren’t all.

But …

Having a passion is so important when it comes to enhancing your life and achieving your dreams. When you discover what you are passionate about, and pursue it, you can use this golden gift as an inspiration to harness your creativity and help you create the life you love and imagine.

Sometimes it can take years for you to discover your passion; going through many challenges and experiences and accomplishments before you stumble upon that activity that you absolutely love doing, regardless of what others might say. Or perhaps it is that activity you always love doing when you were a child but somehow got lost on the way.

Creativity is a vital aspect of our lives. You may not be that singer or designer and have absolutely no interest in the creative, yet there are others who can never get enough. I firmly believe that creativity is a powerful tool that can be used to harness self-love.

We all possess some form of creativity within us. Whether it is the way we communicate, writing, dancing, fashion or cooking. However, the question is how do you use your creative energy to harness self-love? Simultaneously, you may have invested a lot of time not being purposeful or intentional about what you genuinely want for yourself.

There are so many things you can do or practice to harness self-love. The following are some of the ways you can utilize to harness self-love.

• Care less about what others think.
• Believe in youself
• Understand yourself
• Be receptive
• Pay attention to your intuition
• Accept that you’re not perfect
• Take good care of your body
• Avoid toxic people
• Practice self-awareness
• Have an open mind

… how you can use creativity to harness self-love but first …

Finding your creativity

We all have our own traits, preferences and method of imparting things about ourselves. But have you ever question yourself about what you really enjoy doing? That activity you would love to constantly engage in because it delivers so much joy and satisfaction. It is not always easy to find what we truly want to immerse ourselves in, but with trial and error what we truly love and inspires us will come to surface. This is a very difficult step in discovering who you truly are but is necessary to experience in order for you to regenerate.

Be intentional about the atmosphere you immerse yourself in and notice what you’re drawn to. The more time you invest in an atmosphere that is uplifting and encouraging the sooner you’ll likely to discover your true nature. This is a consequence of the conduciveness of the atmosphere.

Read the following to learn more on how you can find your creativity by getting in touch with yourself.

• Seek quiet spaces to facilitate reflection and journaling. Journaling is a strategy use to help you account for your deepest thoughts and emotions as you navigate towards inspiring your creativity.
• Join social groups whose interest and passion align with yours. This will give you a sense of belonging; whether it is over shared love for writing, singing or poetry joining a group will contribute to you achieving your personal goals.
• Set boundaries for people who discourages your growth and development, and negatively impact your emotions.
• Find what you’re passionate about. Finding your passion produces effect and continuous effort produces results which produces a more significant discovery of yourself.
• Pay attention to what you are drawn to. In doing so, you will be guided to yourself. Therefore, choose quiet and peaceful time in meditation and notice the moment you feel the urge to do something, as shifts emerges when your mind is in stillness.
• Reassess your relationships. It is important in discovering who you are. A large aspect of it lies in the people you are around. When you do this you’ll realize you never knew anyone else until you discover your true self.

People need the real you and you also need the real you. When you understand who you are your passion and purpose will become enlarge and you will consume less time going around in repetitive motion. This is a destructive pattern and if allowed will result in disaster.

How You Can Improve Your Day to Day Living

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What is your biggest distraction? I’m not sure what is my biggest distraction but I hate noise and sometimes I am unable to control it, because of the origin of the sound. So what do I do? Wait until the noise subsided and begin my work. Early mornings are not only great for exercising and coffee but to begin writing. When the mind is fresh and less tired. Or whatever works for you.

You want to improve your days so you can have the best life. But it’s difficult sometimes to figure out how to begin such a task because every day your mood may vary, and you would want to have a plan or schedule that is feasible and not send you through the roof.

“Self-improvement is the name of the game, and your primary objective is to strengthen yourself, not destroy your opponent”

Maxwell Maltz

How to Improve Your Day to Day Living

1. Have morning inspiration to seize your day. We all have bad days and good days that we have to learn from, but each morning we must begin our day with a positive mindset and the attitude that it’s going to be a great and fulfilling day. It will take time before you can form this habit but it will give you positive energy that could change your life, while building the momentum for the day. Here is an example shortlist of some of the ways you can inspire your daily life.

• Practice meditatation and yoga
• Gather a list of quotes from your favourite person and read them each morning
• Get out the house and take that morning walk.
• Listen to that podcast, speech or musical interlude that inspires you
• Review your goals and how you are progressing
• Exercise to improve your state of mind

And …

2, Always listen to your body. Take Breaks During The Day. This will help to improve your concentration and performance. When I worked in the office, I used to take multiple breaks. I have found that after a break you are more energised and motivated. I’ve also discovered that working without breaks leaves one tiresome and fatigued and eventual low performance. Restoring your physical and mental energy is important to maintaining enthusiasm for higher productivity.

3. Sleep is vital for our bodies. Get Adequate Sleep. Most adults need at least 7 hours of quality sleep every night. Be consistent with your sleeping habits. And for quality sleep remove electronic devices, avoid large meals and ensure a clean and relaxing environment. Quality sleep helps you function well during the day. It recharges your body and mind and leaves you more alert and improves your mood. Sleep deficiency makes you less productive and decreases your concentration.

4. Eliminate Unwanted Things. How do you get rid of things that are no longer meaningful or those things you hoard for “special” reasons? If you are a clutter keeper it’s time to bid this garbage goodbye. If you are finding it difficult to do start by making a list of the things you’d like to keep and how meaningful they are to you. You can also donate to your favourite charity. Eliminating unwanted items will keep your surrounding air, light, clean and healthy. If something or someone isn’t adding value to your life why should you hoard it? Create spaces that would add a positive impact on your mindset and all areas of your life.

5. Don’t wait for special occasions to call that friend or relative whom you haven’t heard from for years. Contact that person before you grow older and are unable to remember their name/s. Or if you hate phone calls like me you can resort to sending an email or text message. We all need each other to survive and a simple contact will go a long way for you and that person. Technology has become an important part of our life and has made it easier for us to communicate with others. Maintaining friendships is good when you have the right people around you. Honest, reliable, valuable and loyal – people who uplift and encourage you to do better.

You’ll have those days when nothing will go right. But improving your day doesn’t mean you won’t experience stress and distractions. A good day is when you have had all the challenges and still say you had a good one because in spite of the challenges you were able to persevere. Remember, always set your intentions each day and know where to focus your attention. The more you practice you are likely to be more successful at what you do.

5 Types Of People You Should Surround Yourself With

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Every day is the best day for new beginnings and possibilities. Opportunities to make our lives better, opportunities to start over, to begin reading more often and to change the kind of people we associate with. The latter especially is very important as it contributes towards our self-development. Cliché, but that is a fact.

Whether you are trying to become a doctor, nurse, teacher or entrepreneur the journey to achieving your goals is difficult as it is with any goal.

Hence, the people with whom you surround yourself with will play an important role, contributing positively and adding value to your life.

As human, we are a product of our environment. That can be good or bad. However, we have the power of choice to create the outcome of our lives. Although some of us like to believe we are victims of circumstances. As a consequence, it is essential to be judicious when determining who your friends are.

Here are 5 types of people to positively influence your ambitions.

Those who inspire you. You should always be mindful of the people you surround yourself with. Be around people who inspire you and have the same or similar visions and goals if you want to succeed, because it’s easy to indulge in things that will make you counterproductive. Be around those who motivate you to strive for excellence. While you do so, avoid those who aren’t growing or going anywhere. That is, those that criticize you, discourage you and have a problem for every solution.

Those who are ambitious. People who are unsuccessful with no passion or goals do not generate an atmosphere of optimisms and good relations. In this kind of environment there are feeling of negativity and misunderstanding and lack of support. Find supportive and reliable groups who fits your future and empowers you.

Successful people. You can’t grow with people who don’t want to win. People’s inadequacy and lack of ambitions will influence you to fail or result in average achievement. Slackers and gossipers will drag you to the gutter. Being around successful people will make you want to become successful. Unfortunately, many people do the opposite. You are who you surround yourself with and that is why it is so important for you to align yourself among the people who is relevant to your success.

Those with a positive mindset. Spending time with people who are optimistic is crucial to your accomplishment. Make a decision to raise your standard and surround yourself with positive people who are supportive with a positive mental attitude. People radiate energies and this energy can be passed on to you because of close association.

Authentic people. Those who always criticize you, rude and belittle you stay away from them. These are the people who only see your past and failures. Your values, character and ideals are of importance. This is what makes you. Remember, your authenticity comes from a place of honesty and not pretense. Let your intuition point you toward what is true and choose those authentic people wisely. Those people who will let you know how much they support your goals and praise you when you are doing well.

Decide today whether to remain where you are, in your rut of friends and let go of negative relationships. People who are achievers and are admired will have a positive impact on your life. It’s said that “Proximity is power.” Stay away from those people who are still hoping, still wishing, still waiting and still blaming.