How to Start Being Kind to Yourself and Why it is Important

How do you teach yourself to be compassionate? Learning how to be kind is not about doing good all the time. Instead, it is about giving yourself some space to breathe. It is about making it possible for you to do what you want to do, commit mistakes, and hopefully try again.

The importance of being kind to yourself is about allowing yourself to try new things, fail at them, and learn. When you can do that, you can help yourself grow and find your inner goodness. 

Why Is Kindness So Important?

How kind are you to yourself? If you can’t remember the last time you were kind to yourself, then maybe you forgot about showing yourself a little bit of compassion. Every time it feels like you have not done enough, you make yourself feel bad. 

Do you have any idea how to practice self-love? For sure, you will say that you love yourself more than anything or anyone in this world. But do you show that? 

More often than not, you end up doing these without even blinking:

• When you fail to meet your expectations of yourself, you act like there is no way you could forgive yourself. 
• When you allow yourself to procrastinate, and then you feel guilty after. 
• When you fail to meet other people’s expectations, you beat yourself to it as if everything was your fault. 
• When you look at your shortcomings, you think there is nothing that you can do to improve yourself. 
• When you try to push yourself for the better, so that you can do better, but you only end up exhausted from even trying. 

These are just things that commonly happen to people. It happened to you more than once. But you try to forget about it and move on until the next episode happens. The truth is that as much as we love ourselves, we also end up being our greatest critic. We look harshly at ourselves and wallow in our pain and disappointments. 

But why is it important to be kind to ourselves? With every good intention, being good to yourself changes you dramatically. For instance, here are some situations that you can change when you show yourself a little kindness:

• If you are not so hard on yourself, you can forgive yourself more easily.
• If you are not too hard on yourself for failing, you can use it as a learning opportunity. Then, you can focus on trying again. Perfection is not achieved on the first try. You have to learn to try again. 
• If you are not too focused on your flaws, you will be able to feel the simple joys of finishing a task. It will bring about a significant change in how you deal with the world. 

Loving yourself is the most essential kind of love. When you start being kind to yourself, you will see how you can be a whole different person for the world. Kindness to yourself lessens the burden. It will put an end to your anxiety, and that will mean you will struggle less and less. 

How Do You Show Kindness To Yourself?

You’ve always been taught to be kind to others. From the very beginning, you’ve been told to always show compassion and patience to those around you. And yet, you’ve never been told to be gentle with yourself.

Frequently, we grow up or currently live in an environment where very little love is left for the self. In fact, it is not often that people practice self-love. However, without people realizing it, self-love is the most important kind of love that people must learn to feel. Without respect for the self, it becomes even more difficult to give love to others. 

How do you show kindness to yourself then? Here are some tips on how to do it:

Always choose yourself in everything that you do. 

Instead of giving up when the moment gets rough, toughen up, and stand up for yourself. Don’t let your self-doubt get to you. Cheer for yourself, because nobody else will. After all, you are your own motivator. Only you can pick yourself up from the lowest of the low and bring yourself up. No one else cares how you take care of yourself, so make sure to stand in your corner. Always choose yourself, no matter what. Remember to hold on to who you are and who you can become. 

Always try to pay it forward. 

Don’t live your life for the reasons that you have today. Make plans for the future. Remember that the goal is for your future self to thank you for what you did today. Perhaps you can start wearing sunscreen, and your future self will thank you for the excellent skin that you will enjoy. You won’t look like your age, and that’s a big plus. When you open your bank account today and start saving, you can actually look forward to having a more financially secure future. Do the things that you will not regret. After all, the best time to start is always now. 

Thank yourself for the mistakes that you’ve made. 

More often than not, you burden yourself with the thought of committing mistakes and not living up to the expectations that you have for yourself. But then again, remember that you wouldn’t be the tough person that you are today if you did not make the mistakes that you did. So forgive yourself and give yourself a high five for all the mistakes that you’ve made. Take them as learning opportunities. Instead, love yourself for not being perfect. It means there will always be room for improvement. 

Be kind to yourself so you can be kinder to others. When you help yourself, you are helping those around you.