The Love Yourself Challenge
30 Days to Self-Love
By Lita Medinger
Copyright 2016 by Lita Medinger All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Thank you to my lovely Patrons , who support Back On Pointe through their time, comments, and donations. You are the ones who make Back On Pointe what it is today!
Introduction
Welcome to my self-love challenge, the Love Yourself Challenge!
The Love Yourself Challenge came out of my personal feelings of inadequacy. It's a terrible way to feel, and I realized that if I was feeling that way, others probably were too. I decided to fight those feelings and created this challenge, which first appeared on my blog, Back On Pointe. The Love Yourself Challenge is a way for you to confront the negative thoughts you harbor about yourself and begin the shift to a positive experience with your mind and body. With a negative attitude towards yourself, you'll always be bogged down by your negativity. Once we're able to treat ourselves with respect, love, and care, we're able to truly grow and shine upon those around us.
If you read my blog, some of the tasks may seem familiar to you. But in this version of the challenge, you'll be given more detailed tasks to complete each day, as well as worksheets and my thoughts on the exercises, and special bonuses.
So please read through this a day at a time, remembering that these aren't chores, they're dates with yourself. At least you'll never be stood up!
Day One: Take a selfie and dont delete it.
Theres a lot of pressure in our society to always look good, whatever that may be. We untag ourselves in unflattering pictures on Facebook. We know what our good side is. We take 50 pictures of ourselves and delete 49 of them. All of this just serves to reinforce that your natural state, how you look when youre playing with your dog or making lunch, isnt good enough.
And thats nonsense. Youre always good enough. So bust out that cell phone, or that laptop, or that camera, and take a selfie. It doesnt matter if your hair is kinda messy or you think you look weird. Just take the picture, take a look, and let it rest. If youre really feeling up to it, share that photo with the world! Or maybe just with your Facebook friends, thats okay too.
Day Two: stand in front of the mirror and say what you like about yourself.
Its not what you say out of your mouth that determines your life, its what you whisper to yourself that has the most power! Robert T. Kiosaki, author, speaker, and businessman
This exercise can really be tough, I know. Thats because your instinct is to first pick out the negative. But if you can force that negative voice to be quiet, even if only for a few minutes, youll let the positive voice out for a turn.
Say things like, My hair is really pretty styled like this, I like that I can hold my son on my shoulders when we go to the park, or I look good in turtleneck sweaters. Find the positives and youll change your whole outlook.
Day Three: write a letter to a younger you, telling them what you wish youd known then.
Its tough being young. Looking back, I think we all have something that we wish we could tell ourselves 10, 5, or even just 1 year ago. Maybe you needed some extra support when going through a rough time, or maybe you feel like you invested too much energy into a friendship that wasnt serving you properly.
Take a sheet of paper and a pen and write to The Younger You. Give them the advice you wish you had gotten, show them love, and maybe tell them the latest fashion trends so they can be ahead of the curve.
Day Four: do a mini photo shoot, either with a friend or alone.
Sometimes, youve just gotta let out your inner model. Be silly, be sultry, get all dolled up. Let yourself be the star for a while, and realize that you can express yourself however youd like.
I used to do spontaneous photo shoots all the time. Itd be a foggy morning, and Id drag a friend out of her dorm to take pictures down by the river. Id set my camera up on my coffee table and explore the shapes my body could make backlit against the windows. A friend of mine and I once took pictures of each other spinning around on the rooftop patio of my building. These photos are memories that will last forever.
Day Five: make a list of qualities you like in others and think about how you can bring out these qualities in yourself.
I love people who work hard to make others happy, so I try to make others happy too. When you like something about a person, consider being that way too. Now, I dont mean you should try to change yourself into someone else or mimic someone elses interests, but theres nothing wrong with using people as a role model for a single attribute.
This exercise can also help you figure out what type of person youd like to be, which can be a source of a lot of stress as you get to be college age or have just graduated and are trying to make it in the real world. If you know what you admire in others, youve got a head start for figuring out what would make you happy to pursue.
Day Six: read a love poem.
I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. Pablo Neruda, 100 Love Sonnets
Poetry has the power to make each and every one of us feel as special as we truly are. Love poems can be happy, or they can be sad. They might be flowery and beautiful, but they could also be plain and straight-forward. But each of them is a love poem.
I feel that love poems can open us up to love. Reading a love poem is almost like falling in love yourself, and they can open your eyes to all the ways people love and all the things they love each other for. With this knowledge, you may find new love in your life, love that was always there, coming from friends and family, that you hadnt noticed before!
Day Seven: give yourself a big hug.
I know what youre thinking: hugs are silly and giving yourself a hug is the silliest of the silly. But why? Why must we be so afraid to show ourselves affection? A hug is friendly intimacy, a gesture of caring and closeness. Hugging yourself is a reminder that you should be treating yourself the way youd treat your best friends: with honesty and care. Hug yourself and remind yourself that a hug means love.
Next page