This is a single-speaker YouTube presentation by Jack Canfield teaching why and how to love yourself more. He offers three main reasons—self-love increases happiness, improves health through self-care, and makes the world better by creating positive ripple effects—then gives practical self-care tips (sleep, nutrition, exercise, celebration/victory log, gentleness, scheduled personal time, belief) and leads a daily Mirror Exercise to boost self-esteem. The talk ends with an anecdote of a long-running practitioner, a prompt for viewer comments, and calls-to-action linking to a free guide and his website.
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Hi, I'm Jack Canfield. Today I want to teach you how and why to love yourself more so you can enjoy a happier, more fulfilling life and make the world a better place in the process. Have you ever wondered why we find it so easy to love other people and so difficult to love ourselves? I think it's because we've been taught that loving ourselves is selfish or conceited in some way. After all, nobody likes a narcissistic person who walks around saying I'm so awesome all the time and never seems to care very much about anyone else. But there is a huge difference between loving yourself and being a narcissist. Loving yourself doesn't mean you think you're better than anyone else. It's simply a matter of recognizing your own good qualities and acknowledging that you're a lovable person and that who you are is worthy of love. Because. Because no matter what you've been taught to believe you are worthy of love. I want you to understand that at a bone deep level, no matter who you are or where you are at in your life, you deserve all the love in the world. And the most important person you need to receive that love from more than anyone else is yourself. Now here are three powerful reasons why loving yourself is the key to a good life and why the world needs you to love yourself more now more than ever. Number one, it makes you happier. Loving yourself is all about acknowledging your positive qualities and being kind to yourself. You spend less time berating yourself for your mistakes and perceived flaws and more time celebrating your successes and building on your strengths. And if you've been following me for any length of time, you probably know that what you focus on grows. So when you focus on your successes and your strengths, the more successful and more capable you'll become. And of course that's going to increase your happiness, your satisfaction and your enjoyment of life. Now speaking of happiness, I have a free positive thinking guide to go with today's video that will help to reclaim your happiness anytime you have low self esteem, need motivation or experience fear. Now the second reason why it's so important for you to love yourself is that it makes you healthier. Because a big part of loving someone is giving them what they need to thrive mentally, physically and spiritually. So when you love yourself, what we're talking about is practicing self care and giving yourself what you need to show up in the world as your best self. Which brings me to my third big reason why you need to love yourself more. It makes the world a better place. Because when you show up in the world as your best self, you encourage others to do the same and it creates a positive ripple effect that impacts the lives of many others. And not only that, when we love ourselves, we become so much better at loving others. We're kinder to each other because we've learned how to be kind to ourself. And I think we can all agree that the world today needs a lot more love and kindness in it. All right, so exactly how do you practice self love? Here are some tips. First off, get more sleep. Most people are chronically sleep deprived, which is a problem. And because when you don't get enough sleep, you're more likely to get sick, become obese, suffer from depression, develop cancer, and put yourself at risk for a whole host of other health problems as well. So one of the nicest things you could ever do for yourself is to get the rest you need. I don't care how much work you have, schedule several nights a week where you're going to bed earlier and get at least eight hours sleep. And my second tip is to eat healthier. When you eat healthy food and the amounts your body needs, you have more energy and you feel better about yourself. You're less likely to become sick. So eat fewer carbs and more protein and vegetables. There are a ton of books on eating better, so buy a couple and seriously work to eat healthier. My third tip is to get more exercise. It doesn't have to be painful or strenuous. It can be as simple as doing yoga, Tai chi, some basic calisthenics, or going for a daily walk. Physical activity releases your endorphins. It boosts your energy and mood, increases your emotional resilience and improves your self esteem. There are also a number of exercise videos you can buy. Pop into your DVD player or your computer and just follow along. It's really easy. The key is to build it into your calendar at a specific time each and every day. Now my fourth tip is to take time every week to celebrate your successes and remind yourself what you're capable of achieving. Not only will it boost your confidence and self esteem, it will motivate you to achieve more success in life. And one way to do this is to keep a victory log where you write down your successes at the end of each day. Now my fifth tip is to be gentle with yourself. No one is perfect. You're going to make mistakes instead of berating yourself for them. Use your mistakes as an opportunity to learn something that will help you get better results in the future. My sixth tip is to take time for yourself. Make sure you give yourself time every week to do some things you love. Take a hot bath, read a book, watch a movie, spend time on your favorite hobby, or do something fun with a friend. Whatever fills your soul with gladness because you deserve it and because in doing so, you will encourage others to do so as well. Now again, put this in your schedule when you're planning your week and then don't let anything violate that space. And finally, my last tip is this. Believe in yourself. You are capable of achieving anything you could imagine. The universe will not give you a vision that you can't make a reality. All you have to do is take one small action after another and you can create any result you want in life. All right, before I go, here's an exercise I'd like to leave you with. If you struggle with feelings of low self worth or find it hard to love yourself. This is one of the most powerful daily practices I know to boost your self esteem and see how truly lovable you are. It's called the Mirror Exercise and it works like this. At the end of every day before you go to bed at night, I'd like you to stand in front of a mirror and tell your reflection in the mirror out loud how much you love yourself and why. I'm talking about speaking directly to yourself out out loud and saying hi. Then say your name. In my case, it'll be hi Jack. I just want to let you know how much I love you. Look at all the great things you did today and then review everything you accomplished that day, saying it out loud to yourself. List everyone you can think of, no matter how small. You got out of bed. You scored that big new project. You got positive feedback from your manager. You were a present and loving parent to your kids. You didn't lose your temper and shout at the guy who cut you off in traffic. Whatever you're proud of having done that day. And also include any disciplines you kept, like meditation, exercise, drinking eight glasses of water, writing in your journal or reading for an hour. Plus include any temptations you resisted, like eating that dessert that was offered or staying up late playing lightning round words with friends until 1am in the morning. Something I used to do. Now, once you're done, say the words I love you to yourself and then go to bed still feeling that pride and satisfaction in yourself. Now I'm not going to lie. You might feel a bit silly at first saying hi there, I love you to your own reflection in the mirror, but the more you do it the easier it will get and the bigger the impact it will have on the way you see yourself and the way you show up in the world. One of my students, Noreen Kelly, she's a graduate of our Train the Trainer program, decided she was going to do the mirror exercise for 3, 365 days in a row, which she did. But she found it so valuable she never stopped. And she's now done the mirror exercise for 2,463 days in a row. She's coming up on seven years in a row without missing one day. And here's what she wrote to me in a recent email. She said, I do believe the most important thing I've incorporated into my life is the mirror exercise. Or maybe we should call it the Miracle exercise. I've discovered that when I connect intimately with myself, I honor and bless myself. I notice and nurture. I live a more purposeful life with fewer attachments. And when I look inside, I see that I have everything I need. I had just never looked deep enough or long enough before. And when I fully love and honor myself, I'm able to fully love and honor everyone else. Well, all right. Those are all the reasons why it's so important for you to love yourself and some ways to do a better job of it. Now let's you talk about it. What are your thoughts after watching this video? On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being high, how much do you love yourself and what are some of the ways you practice self care? So if you feel inspired, please leave a comment below with your answer. I'd love to read what you have to say, so thanks for watching and remember, nothing in your life will change for the better until you do. Now, if you found this video helpful, make sure you like it, share it with a friend who may need it, and subscribe to my channel for more videos like this one. And for some additional resources on how to love yourself, please visit my website at jackcampfield. Com. Thanks again for watching.
