The Self-Love Challenge is Coming!!

I’m declaring it: The Self-Love Challenge is going down this May.

It’s completely free, you don’t have to sign up for anything and no one even has to know you’re playing along. There are no selfies or ice buckets or social media posts required. Yet participation could yield permanent benefits, including lower stress levels, better health and increased longevity.

The challenge is to come up with one thing you love about yourself every single day. Simply spend thirty seconds to a minute thinking about one of your qualities, characteristics or achievements that makes you feel good about being you.

It’s even more powerful if you write it down. By the end of the month, you’ll have a 31-point list of your awesomeness.

And you’ll score extra bonus points in the self-love department if you speak the thing you love out loud to yourself in the mirror each day. This feels outrageously dorky, of course, and it can also be deeply moving. Sometimes it’s emotional to hear what’s good about ourselves, even when we’re the ones saying it.

And sometimes it may feel hard to find even one thing to like about yourself. In that case, you may have to dig. Ask a friend, partner or parent what your outstanding qualities are. Make a list so you won’t forget. Bask in the warmth of their admiration, and let it inspire your own. There are people out here who think you’re pretty incredible.

The idea of the Self-Love Challenge is just what it says: to put effort into cultivating greater self-love. While self-loathing may be the default setting for so many of us, it’s no more “real” than operating from a place of self-love. Plus, with self-love, there’s a lot greater chance you’ll practice self-kindness, where self-loathing ultimately inspires destructive behavior. Why would you take tender loving care of something you hate?

If I hate you, what do I care if you eat a bunch of crap, don’t get enough rest or have an unsatisfying relationship?

And if I only ever say mean things to you, what would inspire you to even think you could find a loving partner, lose weight or reach any other stupid goal you might have?

It’s worth it to love ourselves No matter how long our lives, WE are the only ones who are with ourselves the whole time. You are your own lifelong companion, and you can be your own enemy or ally. Think about how it might feel to have your No. 1 fan and cheerleader with you at all times.

Thinking about the things you like and love about yourself, writing them down, speaking them and hearing them are a way to point your mind and brain in the direction of self-love.

So consider the Self-Love Challenge, spending a minute a day for 31 days — a mere month out of your long life — seeing your own positive attributes. Are you a hard worker? A devoted pet parent? A creative thinker? A great cook? Someone with really nice hair? Someone who religiously calls mom every week? However big or small, identify and celebrate the things you like about yourself.

You deserve it.

(Also, you don’t have to wait til May 1 to start.)

With BIG love,

Sandy