Are you constantly putting other people’s needs before yours?
You are not only doing yourself a great disservice, but others as well.
Balance is the key to happiness in life. If you place others before yourself, it will lead to imbalance and deep unhappiness over time.
Take the time to notice this imbalance in your daily life. Learn to prioritize yourself and bring balance into your life.
Begin with self-reflection. Start by doing some self-reflection.
Once you’ve identified them, make it your mission to respect your beliefs, your needs, dreams, and desires. Then, give your highest priority to these things.
The following quotes will encourage you to prioritise yourself and give yourself what you need.
“You always have to remember to take care of you first and foremost, because when you stop taking care of yourself, you get out of balance and you really forget how to take care of others.”
– Jada Pinkett
“How you treat yourself is how you treat God, because you are the representative of God in your life. So when you put yourself last, you are putting God last.”
– Iyanla Vanzant
“It’s not selfish, but selfless to be first, to be as good as possible to you, to take care of you, to keep you whole and healthy, that doesn’t mean that you disregard everything and everyone, but you gotta keep your cup full.”
– Iyanla Vanzant
“If you want to have enough to give to others, you will need to take care of yourself first. A tree that refuses water and sunlight for itself can’t bear fruit for others.”
– Emily Maroutian
“Self-care is not selfish. You cannot serve from an empty vessel.”
– Eleanor Brown
Giving yourself a hug is the best act of kindness you could give to the world. Loving yourself first is the best way to spread love.”
― Holly Bourne
“When you start sacrificing yourself for other people, you make them a thief, because they are stealing from you what you need and they don’t even know it.”
– Iyanla Vanzant
“Know what matters most to you and be unwilling to compromise those priorities at almost any price.”
– Frank Sonnenberg
“Be who you are and say what you feel because those mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” – Bernard Brauch
“Find yourself first, like yourself first, love yourself FIRST, & friendship & love will naturally find YOU.”
Mandy Hale
“If you feel the need to make others happy at the expense or your own self-worth, you are denying your reality and your identity.”
– David Stafford
“Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.”
– M. Scott Peck
“AlwaysThe act of putting others first can lead to deep resentment and destroy your happiness. It’s also unsustainable.
– Aziz Gazipura
You can meet your needs the best way by putting yourself first. This, in turn, increases your happiness, joy, and capacity to love, so you can give freely and create healthy relationships.”
“If you don’t workout, sleep, meditate, relax, or do whatever special things you need to do for you, you won’t be the best version of yourself. When you’re not your best version of yourself, you can’t do things for others. In a way, it’s actually selfless to take great care of yourself because it allows you to be more present for your family and friends.”
Heather Monahan
“YouYou must be self-interested to be selfless. YouYou must always put yourself first in order to be useful to others.”
– Rachel Bartholomew
“AlwaysChoose yourself first. Women are socialized to pick other people. If you put yourself first, it’s this incredible path you can forge for yourself.”
– Rebecca Traister
“If you don’t make the choices in your own life, then someone else is going to end up making them for you and they are not gonna be good.
James Altucher.
“Choose to put yourself first and make you a priority. It’s not selfish, it’s necessary.”
– Keysha Jade
“To gain self-respect, you need to put yourself first.”
– Lorii Myers
“If you don’t value yourself, you’re not going to draw valuable things into your life.”
Robert Tew
“You don’t need to live to fulfill other’s expectations. Live for yourself, love yourself and do not let them tell you that it is selfish.”
Mridula Singh
“Don’t wait for a crisis to realize what matters most. PutYou must be the first to act right now. Because right now is all we have.”
Brittany Burgunder
“You can love yourself if you are able to.”
– Charles Bukowski
“Remember to delight yourself first, then others can be truly delighted.”
SARK
“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. Your really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.”
– Lucille Ball
“First, value yourself. Only then can you learn to value other people.“
Charlyn Khater
“You have to validate yourself first, and then you will receive the much-deserved healing validation from the rest of the world.”
– A.D. Posey
“When you care for yourself first, the world will also find you worthy of care.”
― Haemin Sunim
“You don’t have to stop looking after yourself just to help the world. In fact, sometimes it’s better for the world if you put yourself first. That’s not being selfish, in fact looking after yourself is the greatest act of kindness you can give the world. Loving yourself first is the best way to spread love.”
Holly Bourne
“There is a reason flight attendants tell you to put your mask on first in an emergency…you cannot be important to anyone else if you are not first and foremost important to yourself. First, love and appreciate yourself. Then do the same for others. ”
Shelley K Wall
“People pleasing and putting others first literally diminished my mental, emotional, spiritual and physical well-being. Most emotionally wounded people exhibit this trait. Many of us have been programmed to put others first; to be of service to others before we serve ourselves.”
― Christopher Dines
“Addicts, in a very general but foundational sense, are constitutionally unable to put themselves first. They have spent their lives avoiding putting themselves first, hiding themselves and their problems behind habitual and destructive behaviors.”
– Morteza Khaleghi
“If you prioritize yourself, you are going to save yourself.”
– Gabrielle Union
“If you are really humble you will put yourself first when you need to take care of you.”
– Bryant McGill
“You can show the world that you’re worth something by treating yourself with respect and hoping that others will follow your lead. And even if they don’t, at least one person in the world is treating you well: YOU.”
― Carrie Hope Fletcher
“You should endeavor to give your body what it needs to be healthy, your mind what it needs to be peaceful and focused, and your soul what it needs to feel content.”
– Dedeker Winston
Also read:70 Inspirational QuotesIt Will Give YouFor those who are ready to face change, strength is key
Five steps to making yourself the first
These are five easy steps to help you place yourself first.
1. Understanding yourself
You cannot put yourself first if you don’t know what you are truly about. Take some time to connect with yourself. Spend some time by yourself and listen.
Find out what makes your heart happy. Find out what you love. Find out what motivates you and what drains you of energy. Find out what motivates and what makes you sad.
You will be able to place yourself first if you learn more about yourself.
2. Accept yourself and love it
If you don’t value, love and accept yourself, you won’t be able put yourself first.
As we have discussed, understanding yourself is key to self-love and acceptance. You can go deeper to identify all negative and limiting beliefs in your head. These negative beliefs must be let go and replaced with positive, empowering beliefs.
Keep your thoughts and talk in check. Recognize when you are thinking negative thoughts and where they come from. It is your negative beliefs about yourself that are causing this thought. You can begin to let go of these negative beliefs and thoughts by becoming conscious of them.
Also read:18 Deep Self Love QuotesThese are the things that will change your life
3. Self-validate
You give away your power to those around you when you look for validation elsewhere. When that happens, you will find it difficult to be first.
You are enough, just as you are. No one can validate your existence. Only you can get validation from yourself.
4. Believe in yourself
As long as you doubt yourself, feel that you are not good enough, feel that you don’t deserve the good things in life, you will always put yourself second to last. You must first be aware of all self-defeating and limiting beliefs and then eliminate them.
Be aware of your negative self talk and replace it by positive talk. For instance, if you catch yourself saying, ‘I cannot do this’, rephrase it to, ‘I am fully capable of achieving this’.
Realize that perfection is a lie. Everyone makes mistakes, no one is perfect. That is perfectly okay. Do your best, but don’t strive for perfection.
Also read:101 Inspirational Zig Ziglar Quotes OnSuccess, Failures, Goals and Self-Belief are all part of the journey to a better life.
5. Prioritize yourself
The final step is to prioritize your priorities. Your time and your energy should be valued.
Don’t spend your time and energy on things that aren’t in line with your true nature. Learn to say no and realize that ‘No’ is a complete sentence in itself. YouThere are no reasons to say no.
You can ensure your cup is always full, so you are always able to give back.
Also read:101 Inspirational Quotes On Being Yourself
