Five Ways to Show Yourself Love Today

February is the month of love and I am HERE FOR IT! Also, here for the heart-shaped chocolates.

We focus a lot on showing love to our partners, kids, parents, and friends this month. We have built-in days to show those we care about how much we love them. But we have no set day to show ourselves that we care.

It can be really hard to turn that love inward, right?

I’m not the only one who battles with the unloving voices in my head. I wanted to share a few ways you can quickly and easily show yourself some love today.

1. Talk to yourself the way you’d talk to your best friend. We often don’t realize the negative tone we take with ourselves. It’s the fleeting little thoughts in our heads like “you’re such an idiot” or “you’re so clumsy” that play on a loop. Would you ever look at someone else and call them an idiot? No. We have to learn to talk to ourselves in a kinder tone. Talk to yourself the way you would to someone you love and respect.

2. Prioritize your needs. I’m a mom, wife, business owner, daughter, neighbor, friend, cousin and more. Our list of roles is long. You get pulled in a million directions and it’s easy to prioritize everyone else above yourself. Showing yourself love means prioritizing your needs. Not in a selfish way, but in a way that honors your energy and well-being so you can be available for ALL your roles. Honor your needs. As Oprah says, “put yourself on the list.” Take a few minutes today to write your needs in the notes section of your Week on One Page planner — Oprah says so!

3. Have fun! Adulting is heavy but we don’t have to get wrapped up in the serious stuff. Yes, there are bills to pay and doctor’s reports you weren’t expecting and kid tantrums to attend to. Showing self-love means you have to have fun even in the midst of real life. What is fun to you? What did you love to do as a kid? Jumping on a trampoline, go-karting, painting, playing dress-up? Guess what? You’re an adult. You can do any or all of those things! Show yourself some love and do something fun today!

4. Make a plan. “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Benjamin Franklin said those wise words and he wasn’t wrong. Planning is a responsible way to get organized and achieve your goals. It’s also a way a huge way show yourself love. Plan your day, create beautiful routines, keep a running to-do list, map out big projects, get what’s in your head on to paper. It creates mental clarity, gives you confidence, and reminds you that you’re worth the effort. Click here to watch my February live planning workshop. I shared some thoughts on creating routines that will help you show some real love today!

5. Pay it forward. Yes, I just said this was a day to show yourself love. And yet, the quickest way to make yourself feel good is to do something for someone else. That doesn’t mean do something for someone else at your own expense. It means sending a quick text to a friend you haven’t talked to in awhile. It means paying for the coffee of the person in line behind you. It means smiling and making conversation with the cashier at Target. It means being a light in the world even if it’s a small light, lit just for a few minutes, because those bright spots add up.

I hope this month (and all the months to come) we will do better at showing ourselves love. Why? Because you’re worth it. We need you here. We need you to show up as your most authentic self because your life has meaning. Don’t waste your meaning by listening to the unloving voice inside your head.

Make today the day you show yourself a lot of love!