Five tips to avoid failure in Self-love

 Dear Storytime readers, today I wanted to share with you five tips to avoid failure in Self-love.  I recently received my certificate for finishing the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points training.  I have to be honest this year I did a lot for myself. I chased my goals and participated in a lot of events. It kind of drew me out of my shell for a while. Practicing self-love has helped me achieve so many things.  There were a lot of difficult moments on my path, but self-love helped me gain the strength that I needed to face those problems and welcome them with creative solutions. When it comes to pain, it is because of self-love that I have learned to heal my pain and let go of painful events.  Now I look back to those moments, like triggers that pushed me out of my comfort zone.  The famous comfort zone, well I don't want to blame the comfort zone. Let's just say, it's because that zone started to get too uncomfortable for my growth and personal development that I decided to move on to something better.  And as 2021 is approaching its end, I am determined to keep shining my light as the world around me seems to be in a dark place. Now imagine, all the great things that could happen if more of us would practice self-love! The fact that you are here, and that you are willing to read this already tells me a lot about you! If anyone hasn't told you yet, I am proud of you for surviving, trying, and getting through this year. It's been tough for a lot of people around the world. But just take a little breather from time to time for your own mental health. I strongly encourage you to go along with me on this self-love journey and let the results speak for themselves.  Remember, as I keep saying power does not speak, it acts! And you are here to act on yourself, to help you on your journey here are five tips to avoid failure in self-love:

             1. Failure doesn't exist, only targets are missed

Okay take notes kids, it might seem ironic. But your big sister is known for being a walking paradox. Hey, they say if it isn't broken don't fix it.  So far it has been serving me good, so I don't think it will do you harm either.  The first major tip to keep in mind when practicing self-love is to remember that there is no failure in self-love. My philosophy is that failure doesn't exist, I look at it as not yet achieving the target that I wanted to reach. In other words, don't be too hard on yourself. When you are practicing self-love you are the only judge that counts.  When you look at it like that, it is only fair that you be honest with yourself.  And if we're allowed to be honest, as we tune out the rest of the world we start to learn. When we learn, we can always try again knowing that this time it will be better. It's like my writing, English is not my native tongue, but each time I write, It becomes a form of practice.  I apply that philosophy in everything that I do.  It keeps me motivated, even on difficult days.  That way I don't feel disappointed in myself, I try to invest positive emotions into my being. Investing knowledge and learning opportunities in myself has paid off in the long run. I remember one time when I was still a young rookie in an organization. They thought it would be funny to give the new kid all the work. I took all the work on my plate and finished the impossible with my team. The funny thing is, it ended up doing me more good. Because the amount of management experience and networking opportunities I received by simply being the one running the operations with the support of awesome people has benefited my career. It has also sharpened my skills, you can't make a blade go dull.  Don't be afraid to try, if you keep failure as a measure in your mind it will limit you. Set targets, and aim to become so good that these targets can easily be crushed. When you miss your target, try again tomorrow. I am 29 and I have already done a lot with my life. Yet I am still not in a hurry, if I achieved all my goals overnight life would be super boring!  Make a note of this in your personal diary, and remind yourself of all the reasons why it's impossible to see yourself as a failure.  In the self-love game, the only way you can fail is by giving up on yourself. But we don't do that over here!

                            2. Never forget to be yourself!

Never forget to be yourself, there is a reason why you are so unique. There is a reason why you are the way you are. I mean that in a good way of course. Don't use it as an excuse to justify toxic behavior. That is why you should apply all of the tips that I am sharing with you. Be honest with yourself,  when you do that you are in touch with the most authentic version of yourself. That makes you hold a certain power when it comes to enforcing boundaries. Other people cannot bend your morals and values,  simply because they want you to be more like them. When the reality is, there is beauty in our differences.  That doesn't have to be something that drives us apart. It could be a connecting bridge, so that we may enjoy the beauty in each other.  This is what separates you from vain moments while practicing self-love. It is important to be true to who you are, no matter how many temptations you face.  If you love being yourself, you will always invest in what is best for you. I have come to love the way I shine because it represents who I am.  It's the image that I can craft during my life, and only I as the artist know the true meaning of my work.  In that same way, you should know what you stand for, and what defines who you are. It's funny I asked a lot of people to tell me who they are and what describes them, and a lot of them didn't have the answer. I didn't have the answer at a certain point as well, but just experiencing the journey and witnessing the way I evolve gives me pleasure. I wouldn't trade my life with anyone else. I have learned to take pride in my scars and show them off, these scars represent the pressure that brought out the diamond-like qualities in me. Now that we have gotten that out of the way, you will find out that the more you act like yourself, the more you find out about who you are on the inside. Free golden advice right here kids!

   3.  If you want to get there, take care of the engine first!

Now this one I had to learn the hard way. You know how when you are young, you eat what you want, move when you want and it's okay. And then you get older and bam health issues are piling up. I have been there, I have done that. Just like a lot of you guys probably have.  Sometimes we aren't aware of how our lifestyle choices can kill us. My point is simple lifestyle changes can help us live better and healthier lives.  When we live better and healthier lives we can achieve our goals and actually enjoy the fruit of our labor. Imagine having done all of that hard work, and just when you got there your health starts eating away. No, that's not worth it.  Let's just try something new, we're going to have personal health awareness days for ourselves as well. Everyone knows I have a sweet tooth, but I keep it balanced by drinking a lot of water and avoiding soda drinks when I can. It's the small changes that have made a big difference in my recovery.  Sometimes we just need to pause and prioritize what's better for the engine. If the engine doesn't start you aren't going anywhere. This is where practicing self-love was very beneficial for me. I know it will benefit you too if you join me on this fun adventure where we get to discover who we are and how we can improve our lives. I wonder where this will lead to in a couple of years. Stay subscribed to find out, that way our U.F.O. can zap you and bring you straight to our new stories.

                     4. How you talk to yourself, matters!

The way you talk to yourself, and what you say and think about yourself will influence what becomes of your life. If you keep thinking of yourself as a failure, you won't get far. If you shoot yourself down before you even try, how do you expect to succeed? But if you put your energy into building your success and if you have faith in your ability to learn, to grow, and to keep trying then it doesn't matter if the world wants to beat at your dreams.  It is your drive that will bring your dreams to life. Remember how insane people thought the idea of man flying was a couple of centuries ago? Well, don't tell them about the rockets yet haha.  We aren't certain what is possible and what isn't since science hasn't explored everything yet. There is so much information and data to process around us, that it would take humanity an eternity of time to explore it, let alone process it. You are in charge of creating your reality, and it all starts on the inside.  What is the value and worth that you give to yourself? Start talking more positively to yourself, about yourself and you might notice how the anxiety demons crumble.  Be kind to yourself and respect yourself, if you start doing that you will receive more respect in return. How can you expect people to treat you right when you can't even treat yourself right? Speak positivity into your being and watch it transform into action. Because your actions are a reflection of your thoughts. It's very important that you have a healthy mind! If it makes it easier, look at it this way filter all the spam and delete the junk that isn't serving your highest good.

            5. Celebrate who you are, and who you have become

This one is a fun one, I am sure you will enjoy it. Celebrate who you are and who you have become.  Accomplishments and progress must not go unnoticed. Reward yourself, because you deserve it. This will keep your soul satisfied.  When you celebrate who you are, you show appreciation for the struggles that past you had to go through to get you here. Especially in today's world where surviving seems to be a skill. When you celebrate who you are and what your journey has been all about you are showing grace for the life you have lived. Be grateful for the gifts that life grants you. You don't know who is praying to have what you got. How you want to celebrate yourself is entirely up to you. I can share some tips and examples in the future on this blog.  But keep in mind that we each have our own taste. We take pleasure in different things and finding out what gives pleasure to your body, soul, mind, and heart is a part of the journey.  I hope you guys enjoyed this Storytime article and that these five tips to avoid failure in self-love will serve you well.  Until next time, right here on Storytime.