Love yourself like there is a reason to
Reading and practicing 'Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends on It'
What is a personal experiment you have done recently? I recently read (re-read) and practiced Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends on It by Kamal Ravikant and put some of the numerous practices into my daily life.
The reason: this book promises to make your life better. Skeptical yet? I was. But the book can deliver, especially with your effort to apply the practices.
I didn’t get there the first time, but the second time reading, I got more out of it. Why? I realized there is a real psychological value to practicing compassion or, as Ravikant calls it, loving yourself. Here’s what happened.
State of being: What would you learn? That it is possible to shift your state away from being bitter, sad, angry, or cynical. I developed beliefs around these negative states. For example, I often felt like challenges in life were reasons to try something more ‘natural to me’. In other words, adversity was a sign that I was in the wrong place doing the wrong thing. This made me feel lost.
New beliefs: My pessimism disguised itself as being realistic. Pessimism limits productivity, imagination, enjoyment, and courage. I didn’t need more pessimism. I craved feelings of optimism. And guess what—after practicing I observed a change in myself. I noticed more reasons to be optimistic. For one thing, I was more likely to recognize that I would be challenged in ANY situation and that this was unrelated to whether I was in the ‘right place’. The change from pessimism-realism to optimism was one magic result of the practice.
Long-term: Once I began to practice compassion with myself, I started to realize that having an appetite for it was healthy. It may even be necessary. The author would certainly argue it is a non-negotiable in his life. You might say that compassion is like part of a whole food diet; it’s not the only thing to be healthy but it is sure a healthy thing. Just like a diet, it works better over time.
In conclusion, loving yourself opens you up to good things that were always there. You feel like you deserve it. The practice of creating feelings of compassion (to yourself and others) works because it makes it easier to be in a hopeful state.
You should pursue compassion and self-love if you aspire to spend more time being and feeling good. Here is a friendly reminder… you will fail. I have had angry, bitter, sad, and confused moments since starting these practices again. Human nature dictates that we will feel these negative emotions. I’ve decided being full of compassion means listening to those emotions when they serve you and others; it’s a refreshing new belief. If you are dealing with being a pessimist, try compassion.
-Kyle
Another note:
As a rule, I stopped picking up books I knew I wouldn’t read a second time. If I find one that I start and realized I won’t read it again, I stop. It also means I must be convinced of some value (i.e. it is well recommended, reviewed, or on topic for me) before I read it.
The other half of this rule is I set an objective to re-read the books I liked but didn’t learn enough from, like in this case.
The outcome of this is that you have a chance to layer on skills for life. It’s hard to truly develop something you haven’t already practiced. It’s much more useful to practice something over multiple periods, whether it is a skill or a belief.
You can find the book here: https://amzn.eu/d/gVKfwMz
You can find it a second time here ;) https://amzn.eu/d/gVKfwMz