A small act of kindness can go a long way. A smile can brighten someones whole day. A thank you can make someone feel appreciated. And giving yourself some positive self-talk can completely change the way you feel about something. Kindness matters, especially being kind to yourself.
When the topic of being kind is discussed, it’s usually about a kindness someone else has done, or something you might have done for someone else. All types of kindness are important. Every single act of kindness (no matter who is doing it) helps spread more kindness. But in the process of being kind to others, are you also being kind to yourself?
You can be kind to yourself in many ways. In this post, I have listed 5 ways to show more kindness to yourself.
1. Positive Self-Talk is one of the biggest ways you can be kind to yourself. It can be easy to fall into the pattern of negative self-talk. In fact, you probably do it all the time, but may not even be aware of it. I challenge you to see if you can catch how you talk to yourself.
Are you being your own cheerleader? Are you giving yourself positive feedback? Are you being encouraging and compassionate? Are you forgiving yourself for past mistakes? I bet you say these kind of encouraging words to your friends and family all the time, so why not say them to yourself as well?
2. Do Something Nice For Yourself is a really great way to put yourself in a good mood. Maybe you deserve a nice massage? Or perhaps a new hair cut? What about a new outfit that makes you feel fabulous? Or maybe just an extra long soaking bath?
When you take the time to do something nice for yourself, you are showing kindness and love to a very special person––yourself. Isn’t that a beautiful thing?!
3. Taking Some Time For Yourself is a great way to recharge and show some extra special kindness to yourself. What sort of activities make you feel good? How about a nice walk in nature? Or how about sipping on a cup of tea as you journal with some soft music playing? Or what about spending an afternoon creating a fun piece of art?
Alone time is the best time to connect with yourself and give yourself space to just be. When you take time out to do you, you have a lot more time and energy to give to others.
4. Setting Boundaries is a truly wonderful way to show yourself kindness. Are their people or situations that leave you feeling exhausted and drained? Do you have too many things to do and not enough time to do them all?
There are so many ways that you can overextend yourself, usually this happens by over committing or simply trying to be a “nice person”. Sometimes the best they you can do is say no, or not right now. And it is okay to walk away from people or situations that are too toxic. You deserve to be free from that kind of drama.
5. Following Your Passion is one of the truly kindest things you can do for yourself. What is it that you love to do? What makes you excited? What makes your heart sing? That is what you should be spending the majority of your time on.
Maybe you have several things you love to do. That’s even better! The more time you spend following your passion(s), the more fun and exciting life becomes! And when you are happy and excited about life, then you spread that happiness and excitement to others. Following your passion, inspires others to follow their passion too.
Being kind is something you probably already do. You may have even done one or more of the suggested ways above to be kind to yourself (which is fantastic! Go you!). But maybe you want a little more (or a lot more) kindness in your life––toward others and towards yourself. Like anything else, kindness can be built and expanded with just a little focus and intention.
This is why I created my new guided journal The Kindness Journal. It takes the kindness you already have, and builds from there, showing you what you already do that works well and giving you ideas of other things that can be done to enhance your kind acts even more.
Right now, I have this new journal available on my Etsy shop as a printable. These ten pages can be printed out (as many times as you like) to set your intentions of how and who you want to show more kindness too, reflect on what kindness means to you, record what kind acts you accomplished, and do free journaling on kindness (or whatever topic you like).
And until the end of March, you can also use this discount code 40REVIEWDISCOUNT at check out!
Cynthia D. Griffin 
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