I was in my late 20’s when I learned that when we’re able to effectively love ourselves, stress just about vanishes.

Think about it.

If you’ve got a healthy, loving relationship with yourself, you hold boundaries around your time, you don’t let the world weigh you down, you’re forgiving and understanding with yourself, and the list goes on.

When you regularly practice self-love, when you nurture the relationship with yourself, you choose to protect yourself from stress.

It may not be a conscious choice, but’s a choice that you make nonetheless.

This may sound simple and it is. However… simple doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easy.

So many people struggle with creating balance, with even having a relationship with themselves – much less a loving relationship. Then they fight tooth and nail to love themselves and find themselves hitting wall after wall.

Generally this looks like starting a self-love practice, going on for a little bit, then tapering off because they find it’s causing friction. It doesn’t have to be that way though.

Here are a few things that can make forging through the stress to a loving and lasting relationship with yourself become automatic and easy:

It’s really hard to love yourself when you don’t have a clear idea of who you are and what your needs truly are.

For example, my husband receives love through touch – it’s his love language. BUT I have a habit of showing him love through gifts – totally NOT his love language. I’ve had to learn to adapt how I give him love so it’s in a way that he can receive and feel it.

The same goes for you. Maybe some methods of showing yourself love and caring for yourself don’t jive with you, in fact they might add to your stress levels. If you are in touch with yourself and know what rejuvinates you, what makes you feel whole, what makes you feel loved… you’re better able to meet your own needs.

What are the things currently standing between you and your ability to create a deeply loving and nurturing relationship with yourself?

Look at what’s keeping you from having a loving relationship with yourself and what you need to do in order to start building that relationship and love.

Make these goals specific and put a deadline (one that won’t stress you out) on them. I teach my tried and true technique for effectively setting goals that are easily achievable in The Stress Free Formula.

We all need guidance sometimes. And in this age of the internet and an abundance of information being available in less than a second’s time, just finding ways to get a handle on life and find peace can be overwhelming.

Truth be told, there are many ways to get to balance, peace, and prosperity, but it can be hard to find when there’s so much conflicting information out there.

Whether it’s in a course, working with a coach, getting a clear roadmap for the easiest way to get from stressed out to the life you want will get rid of the confusion and keep you accountable, motivated, and on track.

Ever heard the phrase It takes a village?

I know this phrase was coined in reference to raising children, but it’s pretty damn applicable here too. We seem to have it in our heads that having help is a sign of weakness. It’s quite the opposite.

Asking for help is a sign that we recognize that we aren’t superhuman, and it’s a way we can show ourselves respect. If you have too much on your plate, find ways to delegate some of the load.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.

You HAVE to take time for yourself. It has to be quality recharging time. It doesn’t matter how busy you are, how much you have to do, or any other easy to grab excuse for why you aren’t taking the time to do you.

Even if it feels physically painful to pull yourself away from your busy life for a little bit of time each day, This. Is. A. Must.

If you want help, the free I Love Me Challenge is starting soon. It’s all about implementing self-care and self-love consistently and a great way to put yourself as a priority in your life. You can learn more below. 

What correlations have you noticed between your stress levels and struggle to practice self-love?

Let me know in the comments below!