Self-Love: The Foundation of Success?

To live as your peak self and to achieve your most exceptional life, there is one simple key.

Too often overlooked, this practice can radically transform your existence, naturally freeing and strengthening your best qualities and abilities, shifting you onto your highest path.

It is simply to learn how to build your life on a foundation of practical self-love.

When I was younger I would have laughed at this idea. I thought that the key to success was just to pick a job and to work hard, but I found out the hard way that this approach guarantees nothing, and its "success" may come at a high cost.

With a foundation of self-love, success is organic, holistic, and in harmony with all areas of your life. Instead of requiring sacrifice or compromise, your success comes when you are most true to what you love. It comes when you realize your worth and are able to share that with others; you are rewarded for being your authentic self.

Hard work is not a requirement of success but, ideally, it is a byproduct of successfully creating a life where you love what you do — and of taking care of yourself well enough to be able (and excited) to do it.

Using practical self-love as a guide, you can create the conditions that allow you to be naturally motivated, energized, and inspired. When you are rested and happy, you naturally unleash your best qualities and your greatest potential. And you have far more of the emotional, mental, and physical energy you need to be of greatest service to others and to yourself.

Think of self-love as more than just a feeling — consider it a philosophy and a strategy.

You cannot perform at a peak level if you ignore your needs. You cannot be well-prepared to face problems or to help others if you neglect yourself. You cannot sustain a challenging life path if you abuse your body and mind. You cannot feel motivated and excited about life if you don’t tend to your well-being. And you cannot recognize the value of the gifts you have to offer the world, if you do not value yourself first.

Rest is not a reward for good work, but a prerequisite. Self-care is not selfish, but an essential tool for anyone who wants to be a positive asset and a good example.

If you don’t think you have something valuable to offer, or if you’re in a state so negative that you don’t even care, learning to love yourself in a practical way might be even more crucial.

You have the capacity to always feel love, motivation, and inspiration — but you need to make it physically possible to feel that way by dealing with any obstructions to your positive natural state.

So, how can you take action on this right now?

First, decide right now that you will love yourself. If that’s not possible today, set the intention now to slowly move toward loving yourself.

Next, forgive yourself.

Forgive yourself for everything you think you’ve done wrong, and everything you haven’t done that you were told you should. Forgive yourself for everything that you think is wrong with you, and for everything that you aren’t but were told you should be.

You are enough. You are only human — like everyone else. Have the same compassion for yourself that you have for others, for children, for friends, and even for animals.

Remember that you are not your body. Your body is an amazing machine that you are simply borrowing for awhile. Be kind to it.

Remember that you are neither your actions, nor your achievements. Your value does not change, whether you do horrible things or great ones. Like everyone else, your infinite intrinsic worth is perfect and permanent.

Remember to be grateful. Be grateful for your life, your body, and your experiences. For the terrible things that make you strong and wise, and the beautiful things that make life worth experiencing.

Remember to be amazed. Recognize the miracle of who you are, and everything that had to happen in the history of existence for you to be here at all — for you to get to this exact moment, reading this now.

What we learn from our society is a mere fraction of a hint of a blip, in an infinite cosmic reality. The whole universe had to conspire to get you here. That is a wonder that shouldn’t be wasted by letting this minute moment of time, in this dysfunctional little world, beat you down.

Instead, focus on love — in the greatest, truest sense of the word — and how you can apply it to your challenges in a practical way.

If you are completely honest, if you forget all of the nonsense that this confused world has stuck into your brain, you will remember that you are love, that you deserve only love, and that there is nothing more that you need to give or to be.

Once you choose self-love as your foundation, and really learn how to apply it to your own life, the rest will take care of itself.

Decide to be love. Plant that seed, and let it grow.

Self-Love: The Foundation of Success?

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