Reasons Why You Need to Love Yourself First

The value of servitude and selflessness were taught to children alongside other fundamental values and were associated with the concept of moral goodness. At a young age, most individuals are reconciled with the fact that they are implicitly obliged to lend a helping hand to others at all times. It is a societal expectation that must be fulfilled–otherwise, a sense of derogatory perception towards the person who had “wronged” is inflicted. 

But aside from this fact that puts everyone else in such a compromising position in the respective environments where they belong, the truth is there is no such person who has an unlimited availability to be of service to his fellowmen. The honor brought by acts of heroism is truly prestigious, but an individual is born in this world bearing nothing else but his sole identity. Before assuming the role of being a child of the family, a student in the school, a server in an ecclesiastical organization, or a friend, someone has become himself first. This provides a rigid foothold for an antithesis to the context of absolute service for others–there is a need to put oneself front and center.

Celebrating individuality and embracing every fragment of it constitutes the essence of self-love, a growing notion that calls for pouring out ample affection to oneself to facilitate development. To further elucidate how this idea is significant, here are the following reasons why loving oneself must be anyone else’s topmost priority:

1. Loving yourself first leads to increased levels of self-worth

Primarily, taking some time off to focus on yourself can help you realize your value as an individual. Meddling in silence to introspect your distinguishable strengths and weaknesses can lead to feelings of flattery for uncovering certain facets of your individuality that were not dominant or easily observable before. As they say: “the more you know, the more you do not know.” 

With this, you can navigate discrepancies as to what you are worth and how you perceive your value. And once this happens, you can realize what type of treatment you truly owe to yourself. By observing self-love, you seek to get what you deserve–nothing more, nothing less. 

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2. Loving yourself first fosters a sense of autonomy

Practicing self-love may foster a sense of independence in yourself. This is because as you get to know yourself on a different level, you may even feel like you owe yourself some time off from the burdensome workloads of your workplace. Moreover, you get to be enthusiastic about the improvements that are bound to come along your way. Imperfect as you are, you set new goals for tapping your fullest potential and turning them into bits of progress. 

Also, by loving yourself first, you get to appreciate your own company. The degree of reliance that you have on yourself increases. In turn, this may urge you to be a bigger person for yourself–that instead of groping for someone else’s presence or comfort amid trying times, you can catch and console yourself early on. 

3. Loving yourself first allows healing to take place

Throughout the process of applying self-love, you may afford to take a pause in everything that you do and have a step back to assess where you are in the greater scheme of things. By doing so, you can observe how many battle scars you have garnered so far throughout fighting for yourself in war zones that are either known to others or not. And at this point, you may realize how pivotal healing might be for you at the moment. By growing fonder of the person that you have already become, you can start giving yourself the treatment that you perceive you deserve. 

4. Loving yourself first helps you open yourself to others

As you get an in-depth insight into your totality as an individual, you get to muster enough courage inside you to take a stand and speak your voice, especially in matters that concern and directly affect you. Having said that, applying self-love contributes to improving your capabilities as a communicator of your own to others. As long as your tone is neither condescending nor disrespectful, you will not fear speaking up for yourself because you know for a fact that doing so is only a bare minimum and is essential for day-to-day struggle.

5. Loving yourself first makes it easier to say “no”

After establishing a greater level of awareness with yourself, you develop the attitude of receptiveness but only on the range of things that you think you deserve and you can tolerate. Thus, once presented with circumstances that compel you to say “yes”, you beg to differ and become capable of fighting for what you deserve. Moreover, you are not afraid of rejection after asserting your stand on something. Again, this boils down to the impact of practicing self-love–you stop chasing other people’s approval since you exclusively allow yourself to be the person-in-charge in verifying the things that are valid for you.

6. Loving yourself first encourages you to go for more nourishing choices

One of the most evident manifestations of a call to action upon having an elevated degree of awareness of yourself is a change of lifestyle. May it be on your eating or sleeping habits, or should the focus be on your physical or mental health, practicing self-love leads to a healthier life since you want to further improve your current state as the person that you are today, which you already appreciate. And obviously, you cannot do it if you do not feel well physically, emotionally, spiritually, or cognitively. 

7. Loving yourself first teaches you to forgive.

A valid reason why there is a need for you to practice self-love is that it teaches you the power of forgiveness. Unknown to many, these two concepts can be married in a way that when you know what are the things that you deserve, part of it should include a mind that is free from worries and doubts. And if you happen to hold a grudge against someone, the anger lingers within and affects the way you perceive yourself and the people around you. Hence, granting them the forgiveness that they need also benefits you by offering you a clean cognitive slate to start anew and focus on yourself.

Beyond this list are millions of other reasons why loving yourself first should be front and center in anyone else’s to-do list. Before you can actualize your bigger dreams, you have to make yourself whole by supplying yourself with sufficient affection from you. In this way, no matter what life throws at you, you are more than prepared to resist and fight for yourself alone without any ounce of feeling the need to back down.

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