6 Ways to Accept Yourself [2023]

Accepting yourself means admitting your imperfection and learning to appreciate and respect yourself no matter what. It dramatically increases the quality of life, but it is not always easy. Many people are hindered by stereotypes learned in childhood, fears and the habit of motivating themselves with self-criticism. Here are psychologists' recommended ways to overcome this.

📝 Start keeping a journal

People often don't realize how critical they are of themselves. A self-observation journal can help correct this.

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Psychologists advise you to regularly write down in it everything that you think about yourself and your behavior. This will help you understand what claims you tend to present yourself most often. Understanding this will be the first step in accepting yourself

👶 Deal with the past.

Negative attitudes about yourself that you learned as a child can get in the way of self-acceptance. These arise if adults often criticize the child - for example, for not being smart, beautiful, agile, industrious or inquisitive enough.

Having become an adult, a person continues to perceive himself or herself through the prism of these attitudes. But you can get rid of them, critically rethink. Ask yourself, are you really stupid or lazy? Or do you have evidence to the contrary?

🙏 Learn to forgive yourself.

This is one way to accept your own imperfection. When you make another mistake, remind yourself that you are an ordinary person. And therefore, like everyone else, you're not immune to blunders.

If you really did something wrong and can not forgive yourself for it, think about how you can fix the situation. For example, to apologize. Then tell yourself: "Yes, I'm sorry. But I did everything in my power to make it right." Remind yourself of this more often, and gradually it will get easier

💎 Realize your values.

A writing exercise will help with this. Take a piece of paper and write down everything you think is most important in life. For example: "it's important to me not to cheat others", "security and financial stability are important to me". If difficulties arise, use the list.

These are your values and beliefs. Try for some time in all situations to behave according to them. This will boost your self-esteem, strengthen your sense of self-identity and help with self-acceptance

👍 Focus on the positive.

People tend to focus on the negative as much as possible: their wrong and stupid actions, unethical statements, and unconscious blunders. And there is little appreciation for what they are doing well and right.

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This distorts self-perception and increases self-criticism. The next time you find yourself in a difficult situation, try not to blame yourself for what you did wrong. And find something for which you can praise yourself.

❤️ Try the loving-kindness meditation

Studies show that it is effective in reducing stress caused by self-criticism.

Close your eyes, take a few slow breaths and exhales to relax. Imagine feeling genuine love for yourself. Mentally say a few kind words to yourself: "I allow myself to be happy. I allow myself to be calm and strong. I'm giving myself permission to love myself." Again, focus on your breath for a few moments and open your eyes