9 Ways to Enhance Your Relationship With Yourself

There’s no shortage of information on how to strengthen your relationship with your family, boss, or coworkers. However, you never hear about how to have a more productive relationship with yourself.

Your relationship with yourself is the most important relationship you have! Most of the trouble you have with yourself is that you don’t know yourself well.

You may have spent most of your life avoiding yourself. We don’t want to address our shortcomings or deal with uncomfortable thoughts. But you can’t escape yourself, so you might as well make friends.

Try these techniques to develop a stronger relationship with yourself:

1. Start your day with gratitude and positive thoughts. Instead of reaching over for your cell phone to check the weather or to see if your Clash of Clans village was raided overnight, spend the time on yourself. Mentally list a few things that make you grateful to be alive. Tell yourself something positive.
   
   
   • Give yourself the intention of having a good day.
     
     
   • List your positive qualities.
     
     
   • Get your day off to a good start with yourself.
     
2. Write in a journal. Your thoughts and life are worth recording. Take time each evening to write for a few minutes. You’ll gain a lot of insight and appreciation for your life. Show yourself that your life matters.
   
   
3. Let go of your avoidance behaviors. What do you do when you’re feeling emotionally under the weather? Shop? Eat? Get online? Instead of avoiding yourself, sit with yourself.
   
   
   • Just breathe and notice your feelings and body sensations. Avoiding them just prolongs the cycle.
     
     
   • In time, your negative emotions will dissipate without your attempts to hide from them.
     
4. Meditate. Think of meditation as spending quality time with yourself. Begin with just a few minutes and extend the time as you feel more comfortable. You’ll learn how your mind works by meditating.
   
   
5. Spend time on your personal development. What do you feel the need to learn?
   
   
   • Social skills?
     
     
   • Relaxation skills?
     
     
   • Networking?
     
     
   • Spiritual development?
     
     
   • You spend so much time doing things for your boss, home, and family. Take a break and spend some time dealing with your own needs.
6. Have some fun. Plan some fun in your life. Get a monthly massage or meet a friend for ballroom dance lessons. It’s your life. Enjoy it.
   
   
7. Forgive yourself. You’ve made a few mistakes and missed out on a few sure-fire opportunities. That’s no reason to beat yourself up for the rest of your life. It’s time to let go of your past and forge ahead.
   
   
8. Groom yourself to a high standard. Take the time to shower each day and pay a regular visit to the barber or salon. Keep your grooming at a higher standard than others in your environment.
   
   
   • Take good care of yourself and show the world how much you mean to yourself.
     
9. Get help if you need it. No one can handle everything all of the time. Sooner or later, we all need help. That help may come in the form of a trusted friend or professional help. Get the help you need. Remember, you’re worth it.

How well do you know yourself? How well do you manage yourself? Both could always use a little enhancement. It’s not always easy to live with yourself, but remember that you have a lot to offer yourself!

Spend some time each day being good to yourself. Have some fun and spend some time on your personal development. Strengthen the most important relationship of all – the one with yourself.