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101 Self-Love Affirmations To Help You Feel Your Best + Tips On How To Use Them
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Whether you're dealing with low self-esteem, need a confidence boost, or simply want to give yourself a pep talk, affirmations for self-love are a powerful tool for tapping into your subconscious and rewiring your thoughts.
And since you can choose any affirmation(s) you want, they're a great option for everyone—even kids!
Here's a list of 101 affirmations for self-love to help you get started, plus tips on how to make them even more effective.
101 affirmations for self-love
- I am confident.
- I am intelligent.
- I am loving.
- I am courageous.
- I am imperfect, like everyone else, and that's OK.
- I deserve love and partnership.
- I am generous.
- I am thoughtful.
- I am strong.
- I am beautiful.
- I am—and will always be—a work in progress.
- My relationship to myself is entirely up to me.
- I feel good about who I am.
- I pursue my goals.
- I am creating the life I desire.
- I get to decide how I treat myself today and every day.
- I have people in my life who deeply care about me.
- I welcome good things into my life.
- I cannot control my external environment, but I can control how I respond internally.
- I am exactly where I'm supposed to be.
- Everything is unfolding exactly as it should.
- I am worthy of fun.
- I am worthy of connection.
- I am worthy of rest.
- I am worthy of peace.
- I am worthy of health.
- I am worthy of the life I desire.
- I am worthy of success.
- I am perfect as I am today, and there is still room for growth.
- I accept there may always be parts of myself I'd like to work on.
- I'm doing my best.
- I am more than my job.
- I am enough.
- I courageously step into the vulnerability of uncertainty/love/discomfort.
- I get out of my comfort zone and see it as an opportunity for growth, resilience, and self-love.
- I love myself.
- I am worthy of respect and kindness.
- I treat my body with love and care.
- I accept all of me.
- I am a good friend to myself and others.
- I am lovable just as I am.
- I am worthy of my dreams.
- I like myself.
- I deserve to feel safe and secure.
- I am grateful for my healthy body.
- I am grateful for my inquisitive mind.
- I am present.
- I need only focus on right here, right now.
- I am relaxed and calm.
- I can get through difficulties.
- I am proud of myself.
- I am happy and healthy.
- I am living with purpose.
- Every day is a gift.
- I am full of joy.
- I feel content.
- I am positive.
- I love being alive.
- Every day I embody the best version of myself.
- I'm surrounded by love.
- My life is abundant.
- I have everything I need.
- I always pick myself back up.
- I am powerful.
- I will press on and go forward.
- I release what no longer serves me.
- I am adaptable.
- I am deserving of what I desire, and I will achieve it.
- I know my worth.
- I radiate confidence.
- I make decisions that support my highest good.
- I am a wonderful person.
- I am my own No. 1.
- I am my biggest fan.
- I am always learning and growing.
- I am resilient.
- I am evolving.
- I radiate love and compassion.
- I know what's best for me.
- I am grateful for who I am.
- Every day I am better than yesterday.
- I prioritize myself.
- I am my main focus.
- I trust myself.
- I listen to my intuition and inner voice.
- I am in tune with my highest self.
- Love is always available to me.
- I have so much love to give.
- I show myself love every day.
- I take care of myself.
- I do things that nourish my soul.
- I believe in myself.
- I stand up for what I believe in.
- I take healthy risks.
- I matter to myself.
- I matter to my loved ones.
- I make the world a better place.
- I prioritize my own peace.
- My life is a testament of love.
- I am blessed.
- What I seek is seeking me.
How affirmations work
Affirmations are positive phrases that are meant to inspire, uplift, and bolster feelings of self-love within. Research has shown positive affirmations help people cope with difficult emotions1 and can be particularly helpful if you deal with insecurities and self-criticism, according to therapist Megan Bruneau, M.A.
As Bruneau tells mindbodygreen, when self-love affirmations are done correctly, "they can help reprogram the subconscious mind, where we house our unhelpful core beliefs—such as, 'I'm unlovable,' or, 'When people see the real me, they'll abandon me.'"
It is worth noting, however, that affirmations need to be paired with action in order to experience the most benefit.
As psychiatrist Anna Yusim, M.D., explains, affirmations operate primarily at the conscious level of the mind, whereas many of our deeper issues with ourselves are within our subconscious mind.
"[Affirmations] work even better when accompanied by some honest internal reflection and some deeper internal work that gets to the subconscious or unconscious level," she says, adding that it's also important to "take concrete steps to create the changes you're affirming."
Ultimately, think of self-love affirmations like training your brain to come back to positive thoughts instead of the same old negative mental loops. As you build the habit, it will get easier, and you'll truly believe what you're affirming. As your belief in yourself grows, so, too, will your self-love.
Through the conscious practice of reprogramming, Bruneau says, "we can rewire our neural pathways to default to a more self-compassionate and self-confident baseline."
Tips for using self-love affirmations
Write them down
There's something about writing affirmations down that makes them feel that much more tangible, hence why Bruneau and licensed marriage and family therapist Tiana Leeds, M.A., LMFT, both recommend doing so. Leeds also advises making your affirmations your own by writing them in your own words.
"You can even start with an affirmation sentence stem such as 'I am ______,' 'I am worthy of ______,' or 'I love ______,' and fill it in with affirmations that feel most authentic to you," she suggests, adding to rewrite your affirmations 10 times by hand in order to help your brain connect with each of your self-affirming statements.
Believe them
Bruneau and Leeds both stress the importance of actually believing the affirmations you use, which might mean starting off with softer affirmations that you can really get behind. Otherwise, Bruneau explains, the affirmations will just feel inauthentic and frustrating.
"For example," Leeds says, "if you're working on no longer being a workaholic but the affirmation I am worthy of rest doesn't yet feel true, start with, It's OK to take a break when I'm feeling depleted, and work your way up." Or for another example, Bruneau adds, if you're struggling to love your body, try I accept my body.
Another way to believe your affirmations is to phrase them as questions. As therapist Mollie Aklepi, LMSW, previously explained to mindbodygreen, "Open-ended questions such as, Why am I great? or What would my life look like with less anxiety? would allow for creativity and exploration, leading to some insight into which thoughts or actions are serving you and which could be creating barriers."
Reinforce your affirmations through action
According to Leeds, it's essential to back up your affirmations with aligned action. "If you tell yourself that you treat your body with love and care but don't spend time moving your body or nourishing yourself with healthy food," she explains, "you are being incongruent, and your affirmations will lose their effectiveness."
Record your affirmations in your own voice and listen to them often
Go ahead and open up your phone's voice memo app, Leed suggests. Not only is speaking affirmations powerful in itself, but listening to them back makes them even more powerful. "We are highly influenced by our own voice and can choose whether to use it for self-criticism or self-affirmation," Leeds says.
You can do this at any time of day, but she adds that the closer to falling asleep or waking up that you listen, the better. "Other great times to listen are while you get ready for the day and as you wind down for bed, especially while you are looking in the mirror, for example, or while doing your hair," she says, noting that pairing affirmations with self-care activities can also be highly effective.
Affirm your inner child
As you start doing more affirmations, you may feel some come more easily than others. If you're struggling to believe in a certain affirmation, Leeds suggests saying it to a picture of yourself when you were a kid. "Often we are able to see that our younger self deserved things that may be harder to believe we deserve now. Say your affirmation to you as a child until you are able to say it to your present-day self," she adds.
Incorporate them into your day
And last but not least, get into the habit of using affirmations by incorporating them into your day in various ways. Bruneau recommends writing them down and placing them in places you'll see them often, as well as practicing them when you're doing something embodied like yoga, walking, bathing, etc.
Leeds adds to use physical as well as digital reminders too. Try using an affirmation in a password you type in daily or setting your affirmation as a recurring reminder on your phone.
When to seek help
Reciting affirmations can be a powerful and helpful tool on your self-love journey, but it's not necessarily a cure-all—so it's important to have some other resources and healthy coping mechanisms if you're not getting the results you'd hoped for.
Working with a therapist or other mental health professional, for instance, is almost never a bad idea. With the help of a professional, you can not only learn more healthy coping mechanisms but even get to the root of what's holding you back from loving yourself in the first place.
And when you're struggling to look at yourself with compassion, that's when our most trusted relationships come in. Friends, family, romantic partners, and even colleagues can help remind us how great we are when we can't see it for ourselves. Don't be afraid to lean on your support system!
Lastly, this widely circulated Tumblr post might resonate with you if you've always struggled with the idea of loving yourself. To paraphrase, it essentially says that rather than trying to love yourself, try loving being yourself.
In other words, if you don't love yourself right now, find things you love to do, in order to create a life you love living.
The takeaway
It's incredibly easy to get caught up in mental loops and negativity biases, but self-love affirmations are a simple and effective way to combat those limiting beliefs, prime the brain to make changes, and shift your emotional well-being for the better.
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