9 Ways to Love Yourself More + Live a More Beautiful Life

A bright shiny new year is such a privilege! The chance to gather up all of your learnings, leave a few carefully selecting things behind, and start over!!

Loving yourself, becoming your own best friend, and living a beautiful life go hand in hand! It used to be that ‘loving yourself’ was a bad thing! If it feels a little uncomfortable at first, persist. Self-love is not indulgent, nor is it a luxury. It is a non negotiable, essential part of living a more beautiful life.

Here are some of the ways that you can live a more beautiful life in 2016:

GIVE MORE

It may seem confusing at first, the concept that ‘the more you give, the more you get’ .. I can guarantee from extensive personal experience, this works. It begins with giving more love within, try to notice and tone down the negative self talk, turn the concept of giving onto yourself. Give yourself more praise, more love, more care, more forgiveness.

Giving yourself more of these things will allow you to give more of these things to others. Your family, friends, colleagues, strangers will all benefit too. It will ripple out into the community and you will be a part of making not only your own life more beautiful, but also the lives and the world around you.

SAY NO

It takes a lot of practice, and it needs to always involve grace and respect when delivered, it will change your life when perfected! It is not about being perfect though, it is about honouring your own instincts and needs, and making these things politely known to others. If you can say no to the things that do not make your life more beautiful, you will open up more space for the things that do.

MEDITATE

It can be as simple or as seriously zen as you have time for! Gabby Bernstein says “When people say to me “I don’t have time to meditate” I reply, “Do you have time to feel like crap?”

Start small and simple, I have found that using an app or guided meditation is a really easy way to bring some meditation into your day. A few of my favourites are Smiling Mind and Calm.

The benefits of a regular meditation practice are immense, and it only needs to start with 5-10 minutes which I know you can fit somewhere in your day! What about on the train, in your lunch break, after school drop off, at your desk, at the gym?

VOLUNTEER

Giving away your times and skills in some way is one of the most fulfilling ways to live a more beautiful life. Volunteering can take on many forms, it may be that you can mentor someone or a small group of people in a non-traditional way, or you may prefer to lend a hand for a cause you care about. This website is a great place to start https://govolunteer.com.au/

If you can allocate 1-2 hours a week to volunteer your time, talents, business skills or creative side to someone outside of your immediate circle, or to an organisation in need this will change your life for the better!

BE GRATEFUL

Gratitude can turn the toughest of times around, and although it may be the last thing on your mind at the end of a seriously crap day, please bear with me. Grab yourself a pretty new notebook and pen and keep these by your bedside. Simply make a list of 1-3 things at the end of the day that you were grateful for, there is always something. It may have been your healthy breakfast, the smile from your bus driver, the first coffee of the day, a hug from your kids, praise from a colleague or boss, the health of a loved one, sunshine, kind words throughout your day, a warm cup of tea.

DO WHAT YOU LOVE

It may have become a bit of an overused cliché in the eyes of some, it really does have a lot of merit though! It makes perfect sense that spending all day everyday doing something that you dislike is going to lead to unhappiness, and a life that is far from beautiful.

The other side to this is that sometime in life we have to do what we can to get by, and that is the reality for many. If you find yourself rolling your eyes at this suggestion, then turn it around. Love what you do .. find the positives at the job you don’t love, there will be something or someone you are grateful for. Focus on the way that you are making a difference, or if the job is simply about paying the bills, look at it as the income that takes care of you, and your family. Stop complaining, use more positive language and this will help.

START A JOY JAR

January is the perfect time to bring this little project into your home, school or workplace. Grab a large jar and at the end of every day, maybe at dinner time if you are doing this with your family, everyone writes down a word or a feeling or something that happened that day that made them feel joyful, or happy or grateful. It can be as simple or as pretty and creative as you like. Elizabeth Gilbert uses pieces of scrap paper, I use the pages of a favourite Kikki K note pad as you can see inside my 2016 jar.

LEARN SOMETHING NEW

It may be a language, a craft or additional skills for a passion such as blogging or fundraising. The abundance of online courses available today makes this one really easy, affordable and learning something new will always make your life a little more lovely!

If you want to stretch your creative self a little this year, and tap into some soulful writing or photography, I cannot recommend Susannah Conway and her choice of online courses highly enough! Over the years I have taken and adored most of her courses and they are all so authentic, beautiful and life enriching.

DITCH THE ORDINARY

Do you find yourself stuck in a routine rut every now and then, on a bit of a regular basis? Life is much more beautiful if you make the effort to break free of the routine and shake things up a little, even if only every now and then.

I was so inspired by these words and photos that Jodi shared from her New Years Day sunrise, this is the perfect example of ditching the ordinary!

Ditch your usual dinner routine one night a fortnight and take yourself and your family to try something new, there is a little laneway in the heart of Sydney filled with food trucks!

I wish you much beauty, the simple moments and the love that you desire and deserve in 2016. Hopefully some of these ideas will allow you to give a little more love to yourself and help you to shine a little brighter. xx