How to Love Yourself 💖 (Part 4)

Your relationship with your parents affects the development of your character throughout your life.

• If you had a troubled childhood where your physical, emotional, or mental needs weren't met, you may have issues with self-esteem and self-love as an adult.
• Negative messages received in childhood—particularly recurring ones—often stick with you well into adulthood and color your self-perception.

• You can't practice self-love in a bubble. Sooner or later, you're going to run into someone who's going to make a rude or critical comment toward you. Instead of letting that send you down a negative spiral, try not to take the comment personally.
• Show kindness for the person's feelings or concerns, rather than reacting to their tone.
• Remind yourself that different people have different things going on in their lives. When someone makes a negative comment toward you, try not to take it personally.

• If you have kids, do what you can now to help them build healthy self-esteem so that they'll love themselves as adults, even when they're facing challenges. Here are some things you can do
• Praise your child's effort rather than focusing on results. For example, when your kid gets an A on a test, you might say, "I know you worked really hard on that, this shows how much you've learned!"
• Show your child how to do something for themselves rather than doing it for them.
• Focus on your child's strengths rather than their weaknesses and avoid harsh criticism.