Self-Love is the foundation of everything you will do in your life. Especially at work.

Self-Love is such a personal journey, and means something different to everyone. For some it means loving their body and ditching diet culture. For others it means loving themselves more than staying in a toxic relationship. And for some it means loving yourself so you can be a good parent and break traumatic generational cycles.

However, you have found yourself here, so, like me, you may have experienced putting your worth, your time, and your freedom into your career. You have been stressed out and burnt out, maybe lost yourself in the perfect job title and climbing the career ladder only to find a shell of yourself at the top, or perhaps you let a toxic boss or co-worker dictate your happiness…

However you got here. Why you got here. Just know your life doesn’t have to be that way.

You can in fact, enjoy your job AND your life at the same time (without faking it).

And it’s through Self-Love.

And Self-Love won’t just help you with stress management or boundaries.

Self-Love is definitely not just face masks, bubble baths, and massages. (Although yes to all 3 please.)

It’s so much deeper…

I’ve been asked SO SO many times HOW and WHY Self-Love are important in the workplace and as a leader.

The best way I can describe it is Self-Love is “The Skill Behind the Skills.”

As a human, no matter what we do, it comes from our “self.” So when we Love that Self (instead of shaming or loathing or sabotaging that Self) our actions stem from a place of compassion, confidence, and alignment with who we truly are. AND when we are aligned with our true self, we begin to love ourselves, then we can start to love, understand and empathize with other humans. But we can’t love other humans until we truly love ourselves. TLDR; You can’t be a good leader, until you truly love yourself.

I see a lot of leadership programs that focus on team building and conflict management, or change management and problem solving, or innovation and building your company vision. Which is great, these are important skills needed to be an effective leader.

But as I said before, Self-Love is the skill behind the skills…

So imagine this, you’re leading a sales meeting for your company, the big boss is there, your team is there, the client is there.

• While preparing for this meeting you promised yourself you would add in your personality because you know the client resonates with who you are, and that’s why they are here. You know this and don’t second guess anything. (Self-Acceptance)

• The night before you made a point to eat a great meal, do your skincare routine, and go to bed early. And right before the meeting you listened to your favorite music to get in the mood, and visualized yourself closing the deal. (Self-Care)

• When you start the meeting your heart begins to race, but you know to take a few deep breaths to center yourself and talk kindly to yourself. (Self-Awareness)

• During the meeting you accidentally skipped a slide, and your words slipped up, but you got right back on track without skipping a beat. And after the meeting you didn’t beat yourself up about this. (Self-Forgiveness)

• At the end of the meeting, when the client starts asking you the tough questions, you let your expertise and intuition guide your answers. (Self-Trust)

• And you close the deal with no discounts or contingencies because you believe you and your company deserve nothing less. (Self-Gratitude)

Can you do these things without Self-Love. Yes.

Should you? No.

Self-Love is ease. It’s freedom. It’s trust. It’s knowing when you are having a hard time you will get through it.

It’s knowing you are worthy and deserving not just of closing a deal, but for asking exactly what you want. Without hesitation.

It’s being in alignment with your values, and trusting your decisions day after day.

It’s being kind to yourself even when you’re not “perfect".”

The words in (parentheses) in the above scenario are all layers of Self-Love we work through in my leadership framework: Layers to Leadership.

Self-Awareness, Self-Forgiveness, Self-Acceptance, Self-Gratitude, Self-Care and Self-Trust.

These are the skills behind the skills. Every day. Every hardship. Every triumph. These will get you through.

And don’t even get me started on how these layers will help you as a leader.*

Because Self-Love is the foundation to emotional intelligence, authenticity, resilience, energy management, integrity, and communication (and many more). All skills important and necessary as a leader.

*Actually… I have gotten started on that- I have a whole program based around it. 🤗

So I hope this was helpful. Self isn’t just who we are. It’s who we can become. And who we can be for others.

And Self-Love is the foundation behind every skill, every connection, and every single thought, belief, and action you take.

Because truthfully, even when you are leading other people, you are still leading from yourself. So why not lead from a place of loving yourself?

So! Do you want to learn the skills that actually stick? That you will use day after day, job after job, career to career, and human to human?

You know where to go! Click below!