We often approach our work with a lot of weight and aggressive evaluations of our performance. The tiny voice in our minds gives marching orders to work harder, try harder, and when the performance isn’t up to their own standards it delivers some very unnecessarily brutal commentary. We often struggle with what we are meant to be doing and what we want to do. We live in conflict on many aspects inside us. Although it’s great to push yourself to keep performing better at work, and other areas but what we need is loving inner companion instead of a biting critic. The cultivation of a kind voice is much more powerful to help us get where we want and create the career and life we want. This is Self-Love.
Self-love is the process of knowing yourself, connecting with your inner self, overcoming the self-limiting beliefs, letting go of everything that doesn’t serve you, and falling in love with yourself. Being in love with yourself for who you are!
It is important to love ourselves because the relationship we have with ourselves determines the quality of every other relationship in our life – be it personal or work. Only when we are in a loving relationship with ourselves can we reflect that love in other areas of our life. The relationship we have with our work is not different that the relationship we have with our family or food or money. The more in love you are the more fulfilled we will feel at work.
As we start to become aware of the power of self-love and connection with ourselves, we experience the below
1. We gain Courage because we know yourself
Once we honour and know ourselves for who we are, we are no longer afraid of taking risks and moving outside our comfort zone. Self-love helps silence our inner critic and befriend it to serve us rather than taunt us. We are able to take that leap of faith while making decisions and working on our vision to succeed in the business world. We develop confidence in what we stand for because we know who we are from within.
2. We bring our authentic self to your work
When we accept ourselves wholly for who we are, people around us start seeing us in the same light. When we operate from our authentic self to serve our work/mission/vision we gain power to deliver our best for our own satisfaction. It is no longer a game to be played to please others. Fear of rejection is not a barrier anymore to move ahead and progress because we have accepted ourselves the way we are. We are able to let go of self-judgment, thoughts, opinions and people who are not aligned with us.
3. We are always charged and energized
When we prioritize ourselves and our well-being, we are less likely to experience burn out and illness. Our immunity is at the optimum as we care about health and fitness and what we eat. We can get so caught up in taking everything so seriously that we start running on auto pilot – hitting performance markers seem most important – we forget that the most important thing in life is actually our own well-being. When we are an inspiration to yourself then energy is created from within.
4. We enjoy the journey, rather than wait for the destination
We often are made to believe that happiness is a destination to be reached after we acquire all kinds of material objects, that we work so hard for every single day. However, when we are in love with ourselves, we start to enjoy every single day because happiness is in the now. There is no need to wait for happiness, happiness is present in this moment – in everything we do, in flows into us and out of us in all relationships we hold because Love is a way of being. When we love what we do and do what we love, we are alive and soaring in all that we do.
Do not underestimate the power of Love for yourself as it will not only elevate your relationship with yourself but enhance and deepen your relationship with work, family, life and everything around you.
—Meher Mirchandani – Author of Come Alive & Director, Manrre Logistics Fund