Hello, beautiful souls! Today, I want to talk about something that is at the centre of my heart and the very foundation of my work as a HeartHealer™, Mindset Coach, and Self-Relationship mentor. Self-love is not just a trendy phrase currently circling through the wellbeing space; in my opinion it is truly the key to having it all in life.

For years, I struggled with self-rejection, feelings of unworthiness and living in a constant state of chronic stress. My life took a pivotal turn in the first two years after moving to Malta through losing two special women to suicide. These heartbreaking losses served as my wake-up call, reminding me that no one was coming to save me – I had to save myself.

Thus commenced my transformational journey where I started to learn more about the power of unconditional love, both for myself and for others. The truth is, I now realise that I did not know what love or self-love truly meant and as I dive into this topic, I invite you to explore how embracing self-love can be the key to unlocking the fulfillment you’ve been searching for.

So, what exactly is self-love? In my membership community, the High Vibe Besties Book Club, we read a book authored by Vex King titled ‘Good Vibes, Good Life’. Definitely read it if you get a chance (or join the book club and you will gain access to the podcast episodes to listen to while you read along).

In his book, Vex defines self love as “the balance between accepting yourself as you are while knowing you deserve better, and then working towards it.”

I love this definition! I feel it embodies the true spirit of self-acceptance, self-respect and cultivating a loving, compassionate relationship with yourself, understanding who you are, where you come from, and where you want to go.

The loving relationship we grow within ourselves defines the blueprint for the expectations and standards that we set for ourselves, and when we honour those expectations and standards, we are modeling to the people surrounding us the importance of self-respect and the value of nurturing our personal wellbeing. This will ultimately, in most cases, inspire them to treat us with the same respect in which we treat ourselves, and will show them the way in cultivating their own personal self-love story.

Most of us have been taught to associate self-love with selfishness, but actually it is a profound act of compassion, forgiveness and self-acceptance. When we are at our best, we are able to show up for the people we love as our most balanced, compassionate and loving selves. Through embracing self-love, we are choosing to protect our emotional wellbeing and we create a strong foundation for our personal growth.

One of the most transformative aspects of self-love is how it empowers us to achieve our goals. When you love yourself, you develop confidence and a sense of purpose that can drive you forward. Trust me when I say that it is more challenging to manifest your dreams without first believing you are worthy of them. Self-love nurtures resilience, allowing us to bounce back from setbacks with grace and determination, seeing them as lessons towards our desired outcomes rather than as failures. It becomes the driving force that helps us take one step at a time toward our dreams.

I’ve already briefly touched on how when we honour ourselves, this demonstrates to the people in our lives the standards and expectations we have set. The relationships in our lives are a reflection of the love we hold for ourselves. When we embrace self-love, we naturally attract healthier connections into our lives. This could be connections in love, friendship, clients, business, socially, any type of connection.

Understanding our worth allows us to establish boundaries (these are the expectations and standards I have already mentioned), and communicate our needs effectively. In return, our relationships flourish as we bring our best selves to each interaction. When we fill our cups with unconditional love and compassion, when we are feeling balanced and in a good mental space, then we can better support and uplift those around us, especially when those we love might be experiencing challenging times.

As I have learnt, mental wellbeing goes hand-in-hand with our ability to love and honour ourselves. Practices such as hypnotherapy, mindfulness and EFT (emotional freedom technique) can enhance our self-relationship, helping us challenge negative thoughts as they pop up and pivot towards cultivating an empowered positive mindset instead.

Through implementing self-love habits, like daily affirmations and taking time out to appreciate and show gratitude for the simple comforts we tend to overlook, we can more easily become aware of that negative nelly living inside our heads spewing poison and replace it with our personal cheerleader nurturing positive thoughts and love.

So, learn to tell yourself everyday how important you are, how unconditionally lovable you are and that you matter…. Because newsflash: You absolutely do matter, you are absolutely without doubt unconditionally lovable and you bring so much value into the world through simply being beautiful wonderful amazing you!

In closing, my beautiful souls, I believe in my heart that self-love truly is the magical key to unlocking all that you desire in life.

From my personal experience, it is the cornerstone of happiness, resilience, and deep, meaningful loving relationships.

If you haven't already, then I truly implore you to start your self-love story TODAY!

Fall in love with yourself. Treat yourself the same way you would treat the people you love most. Give yourself compassion, honour yourself with forgiveness, encourage and inspire yourself every day and watch how the magic starts to unfold in your life!

And if you aren’t sure how, then please reach out to me because I can help you with this. You can book a free 30-minute empowerment chat with me.

And just in case no one has told you yet today, let me be the first to say:

I love you, I think you’re beautiful, and you have an amazing smile.

Kisses and hugs,

Carolyn xx