Lessons on Self-Love

By Amy Liou

Personal well-being and self-love can be a fundamental professional necessity for working women. As a university student and activist, stress has taken over my work on many occasions, and I started to realize that every successful woman needs to love herself to go far. Eye-opening learning happens when you least expect it, and this is what happened to me.

At the end of 2015, I lost someone special to me, and it felt like my world had fallen to pieces. I was overcome with a sense of hopelessness and doubt for my future. Thought on my worth filled my mind. Was I easy to abandon? Did I mean so little to others?

That night, I promised myself two things. First, I promised to have the best Christmas of my life. Then, I pledged to dive head first into self-love. I did everything I could to resurface from the dark. I spent time with friends, family and myself. I read books, discovered a new music genre and got into fitness. I even continued planning for a conference that I had been planning for months before the break. Even in the midst of my preoccupation, the person I cared for never escaped my mind but I couldn’t overthink the situation.

The conference was a success and my months of hard work pay off. During the after party, I became honest with my team about my personal struggles and expected the worst of mockery. To my surprise, I was praised for my courage and capacity for success.

Perhaps I had been too engrossed in my work to realize how far I have come. Maybe well-being is seen as unprofessional and unnecessary, despite how important it is for every successful woman. I undermined its importance until I found myself drowning in self-pity.

I share three valuable lessons since the break that have helped me to understand the importance of self-love as a successful woman:

Originally posted 2016-02-19 01:16:27.