4 Tiny Habits That Can Radically Change The Way You See Yourself, According To Research
Reclaim your light to fully accept and love yourself just as you are.
Sandra Seitamaa | Unsplash A lot of women don't feel good about themselves, and though we've made strides to overcome our body image issues and love ourselves, we still have a long way to go to radically change the way we see ourselves.
Even though the goal post has moved from not focusing on size or slimness to emulating strong women, we are still looking outside of ourselves to validate who we are. To truly learn how to love yourself and embrace your body, you need to nurture the connection to your body, mind, heart, and soul. A 2023 study examined the link between self-love, psychological health, and well-being to find three critical factors: giving attention to oneself, self-acceptance, and self-care. It begins with some tiny habits.
Here are 4 tiny habits that can radically change the way you see yourself, according to research:
1. Change the way you see yourself and your body
Somewhere along the journey of life, you have adopted this toxic belief that you are unlovable because your body is not perfect. Stop it! If you want to change the way you feel about yourself and your body, start changing your beliefs.
Look at your beliefs. If they are not positive, uplifting, and life-affirming, then you need to do some work to change them. When you change your beliefs from negative to positive, you will start behaving and taking actions toward yourself that are more in line with someone who loves themselves.
2. Feed your body with good nutrition and rewards
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We are made to believe food is the enemy, and we need to deprive ourselves. Messages from the media have convinced us we are in a battle with food and our body, so we spend so much of our life energy focused on how we need to control our natural appetite, and punish ourselves with exercises we don’t even enjoy.
If we step out of line, we hate ourselves. No wonder we don’t love ourselves!
Stop following the latest trendy diet and exercise plan, as shown in a 2022 study from Frontiers in Nutrition that explored evidence related to negative health impacts of fad diets. Start feeding your body wholesome, healthy food that feels good to you. Your body loves to move, so move it. Do things that you enjoy rather than doing something you dislike, and are doing it to punish yourself and your body. It's about a regime of love, not punishment.
3. Understand and connect with your true self
There is an aspect of yourself often referred to by different names such as higher self, true self, soul or inner self. They are all pointing to the same thing: the real essence of who you are.
When you look inside yourself, instead of focusing externally, you need to tap into an endless abundance of pure love. This love is non-judgmental, accepting, kind, and healing. To truly love yourself, you need to know who you are inside.
As Socrates said, "To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom.” I say to know thyself is the key to loving yourself!
Begin to nurture your connection with yourself and embrace yourself with self-acceptance, compassion, and self-love, as shown by a 2021 study in Women & Health. By loving yourself for real, you will be able to open your heart and share that love with others.
4. See the world as your mirror
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Everything that happens to you is a reflection of how you feel about yourself. People and situations are your mirror — they reflect to you the truth. If you don’t like what you are experiencing in your life, how amazing is this? You have the power to change it.
Having suffered from an eating disorder when I was younger, I know firsthand what it's like to not love yourself and hate your body. I constantly compared myself to the models in the magazines, believing that I had to look like them to be accepted. We are sold an image that is not even real.
What is real is that you are not just your body, but rather something more profound. You have an essence that comes from the inside. Life is about discovering your unique gifts and sharing them with the world. The Psychiatric Clinics of North America advised, "It is essential to address body dissatisfaction within eating disorders treatment to improve outcomes and reduce risk of relapse."
Your purpose is not to continue to berate yourself and believe that you are not enough. Your purpose is to stop betting against yourself and to start being your advocate.
Remember: the more you love yourself, the more love is reflected to you in life. You owe it to yourself to embrace yourself and shine your light.
Mary Paleologos is a clinical hypnotherapist, counselor, and transformational coach.
