This post is part of Just Love Yourself Month, an exciting new addition to the Positively Present! This month of self-love is inspired by my new workbook, Loving Your Self, which was designed to empower and inspire self-love. Learn more (and pick up your copy!) here. 

It's the end of Just Love Yourself Month here at Positively Present, and all month long we've been talking about the best ways to embrace self-love. Loving yourself can be a really big challenge, no matter who you are, so I wanted to end the month with a round-up of resources to help you whenever you feel like you're struggling in the self-love department. 

Curated from my own self-love journey and some serious self-love research, the list below includes websites, books, e-books, courses, articles (and more!) that have helped me or could help you experience more self-love in my life. It's a lot of information, but I hope you'll come back to it any time you're in need of a self-love boost! 

WEBSITES

Danielle LaPorte : a self-loving guru's amazing advice

Tiny Buddha : self-love (and life!) inspiration

Anastasia Amour : no bullshit body image advice

Hiya Tootsie : bold inspiration for out-of-the-box dreaming

The Pep Talk Generator : a perfect pick-me-up site

Abundance Tapestry : great self-love articles and more

Operation Beautiful : put an end negative self-talk

Self Compassion : learn to embrace compassion

Madly In Love With Me : a resource reclaiming self-love 

Self-Esteem Project : Dove's mission to improve self-esteem

BOOKS

Loving What Is : a life-changing book on acceptance

The Desire Map : a book for creating meaningful goals

How to Love Yourself : a guide for getting started on self-love

Reform Your Inner Mean Girl : end the self-bullying

Madly in Love with Me : how to become your own best friend

Art Doodle Love : a creative journal for self-discovery

The Self-Esteem Workbook : use this to find your awesomeness

Boundaries : a book for setting healthy boundaries

Tiny Buddha's Guide to Loving Yourself : a book of self-love wisdom

Inside Out : a new book from Anastasia Amour in November

Learning to Love Yourself : a workbook for unconditional self-love

The Gifts of Imperfection : a book for embracing who you are

Spirit Junkie : a book for radical self-love and miracles

Love Yourself, Heal Your Life : a must-read self-love tome

Choosing Me Before We : learn to put yourself first

Love Who You Are : a little book of self-love inspiration

EBOOKS

Loving Your Self : a workbook for increasing self-love

Finding Your Self : a workbook for soul-searching self-discovery 

21-Day Self-Love Challenge : use this to create a habit of self-love

The ABCs of Self-Love : e-book inspiration for loving yourself

Self-Compassion : a guide for mindful compassion and self-love

Desire Map Workbook : a digital workbook for self-searching

COURSES / ETC. 

Radical Self-Love Letters : self-love delivered right to your in-box

Pinterest / Love Yourself : my on-going round-up of self-love

The Self-Esteem Course : a 12-week self-esteem booster

Radical Self-Love Bible School : I did this and loved it

Self-Love Bootcamp : get yourself in self-loving gear

The Self Love Revolution : an 8-week course on self-worth

Desire Map Graphic Maker : pretty images of what you want

Truthbomb Card Deck : these cards are so self-love inspiring

Everyday Self-Love : a course to help build daily self-love 

The Fierce Love Course : for activating your best self

Free (!) Self-Confidence Course : a self-esteem booster 

Unlock Your Courage Toolkit : another great, free resource

Self-Love Reminders : a free printable I created years ago

ARTICLES

Speak Positively about Yourself : with a downloadable list of inspiring words

10 Easy Ways to Love Yourself More Today : start self-love now

Are You Who You Want to Be? : plus a free permission slip printable!

Self-Love Quotes : get inspired with these GoodReads quotes

55 Ways to Love Your Gorgeous Self : so many self-love tips here

Simple Ways to Love Yourself Again : if you've lost that lovin' feeling

How to Respect Yourself : don't ever settle for less than the best

(Self) Love is a Battlefield : an inspiring read on self-love

30 Ways to Love Yourself : an excellent round-up of tips

How to Embrace Imperfections : 4 great tips for acceptance

100 Questions : discover more about you with this Q&A

Positively Present / Self-Love : a collection of all my self-love posts

It's my sincerest hope that this round of books, inspiration, articles, etc. will help you on your own self-love journey. Self-love is such an important aspect of living a positive, present life, but most of us live in societies that work hard to prevent us from truly loving who we are. If we want self-love, we have to work for it and keep working on it every single day.

If you know of any great self-love resources, please feel free to leave them in the comments section below and I'll try to add them to this list!   

This post is part of Just Love Yourself Month, an exciting new addition to the Positively Present! This month of self-love is inspired by my new workbook, Loving Your Self, which was designed to empower and inspire self-love. Learn more (and pick up your copy!) here.  This post is also part of the 2015 Word of the Month series, based on the monthly theme featured in the Every Day Matters 2015 Diary I designed for Watkins Publishing. In the planner, each month has a theme highlighted in the weekly illustrations, quotes, and activities. This month's theme is LEARN. (Order your 2016 Diary here!) 

If someone asked you, "Do you know who you are?" you'd probably quickly respond with, "Yes, of course I do!" We all know ourselves to some extent, but we're always growing and changing and, as a result, sometimes we're not really paying attention to who we are and what matters most to us. We're often to busy to worry about questioning the essence of who we are (or, in some cases, we don't necessary want to take the time to figure it out), but understanding yourself — learning about who you are — is an important part of loving yourself. 

Of course, like so many worthwhile pursuits, this isn't a simple task. Learning about yourself isn't something you can do in an afternoon. Who You Are isn't a book you can pull off the shelf and skim through for answers. (Well, it probably is a book title, but not a book written about you and what it means to be you.) Learning about yourself takes time and interest and dedication. It also takes overcoming the notion that such an act would be self-indulgent and maybe even selfish. 

Self-knowledge is a stepping stone to self-love. And self-love is not selfish. 

How, you might be wondering, does one go about attaining this self-knowledge? The trick is to remember that you already have all of the information — it's within you! — but you have to access it. And that's the tricky part. For me, I've found the best way to become more knowledgable about myself is to engage in activities that make me think about what I value, what I like, and what I dislike. (Inspired by this, I created two workbooks that are great resources for self-knowledge: Finding Your Self and Loving Your Self.) In addition to activities like the ones found in these workbooks, I've found that answering questions is one of the best ways to uncover self-knowledge. 

Do you remember those emails and IMs that people used to send around back in the day? They were filled with a list of questions, things like: Do you have a crush on someone right now? Pepsi or Coke? Have you ever been drink? What's your favorite color? They were silly little questionnaires, but for some reason, I always enjoyed answering the questions, even I only answered them in my head and didn't type my replies on the screen. I realize now that answering these questions was a way to better understand myself (albeit on a very basic level). The questions prompted me to think about what was going on in my life, as well as my likes and dislikes. 

Lately I've seen a resurgence of these questions on Tumblr. It makes me think that, no matter what the media, teens will find a way to use silly questionnaires to connect with one another and tune in to what matters to them. As I've been scrolling through my dashboard and these lists of questions come up, I find myself reading through them and mentally replying, just like I did when I was younger. Even if the questions aren't all that meaningful, somehow the answers are. They provide an outlet for self-connection and inner knowledge. Plus, it's kinda just fun. 

As silly as these little Q&A posts are, I've found myself really enjoying them and realized that, even as an adult, they allow me to learn things about myself and think about topics I might not have given much thought to before. I've created a list of some questions — some thought-provoking, some less so — to prompt you to think about who you are and what matters to you. 

You can scan them briefly and think about quick, one-word replies, or you can print them out (see below for the PDF version), print them out, and spend some time really thinking about the answers. Either way, they're bound to make you think and provide you with some fresh insights on what it means to be you. 

1. Are you generally optimistic or pessimistic? 
2. What would you change about yourself if you could?
3. What apps do you use most often?
4. What's the nicest compliment you've ever received?
5. If you were a color, what would you be?
6. What three things could you not live without?
7. What was the last argument you had about?
8. How did you meet your best friend?
9. Do you have any collections?
10. What would you never want to change? 
11. What are your favorite words?
12. Do you think everything will work out for the best?
13. Who did you last say "I love you" to?
14. What word (or sound) makes you cringe?
15. Do you always finish work on time?
16. Where did you take your first vacation?
17. Would you be described as spontaneous?
18. Do you read your horoscope?
19. If you could be an emoji, what would you be?
20. How do you react to criticism?
21. Would you rather be too hot or too cold?
22. Do you believe in ghosts/spirits?
23. How long does it take you to get ready? 
24. Do you have a good relationship with your parents?
25. Is there someone that you miss?
26. Do you regret anything you've done?
27. Would you live in a book/film if you could?
28. How would you prefer to die?
29. What do you think people notice about your first?
30. Who knows you better than anyone?
31. What one word describes how you're feeling right now?
32. Are you often early, on time, or late?
33. What scares you the most?
34. Would you go back in time if you could?
35. Do you believe in yourself?
36. When was the last time you had a passionate kiss?
37. Is it easier for you to forgive or to forget?
38. Who is the most intelligent person you know?
39. What was/is your best school subject?
40. What's the most important quality in a partner?
41. Are you in love right now?
42. Have you ever broken someone’s heart?
43. Do you enjoy playing board or video games?
44. Who cares a lot about you?
45. How would you spend a million dollars?
46. What was the last dream you can recall about?
47. Who was the last person who saw you cry?
48. Do you give second chances?
49. What's the last thing you did before bed last night?
50. Which was the best year of your life?
51. How do you feel about being naked?
52. Do you believe everything happens for a reason?
53. Could you live as a hermit?
54. Would it be hard to kiss the last person you kissed?
55. How do you feel when you wake up?
56. Is dishonesty ever okay?
57. Do you believe in love at first sight?
58. What's your current relationship status?
59. Are you religious? Spiritual?
60. Who did you last have a deep conversation with?
61. Do you like your name and/or nickname?
62. To get to know you, what should someone read, watch, or listen to?
63. What qualities do you admire in others? 
64. How would you spend your ideal day?
65. What five things do you spend the most time doing?
66. What is the last song you heard?
67. When did you last laugh really, really hard?
68. Do you feel your outside appearance fairly represents the real you?
69. What is one of your favorite quotes?
70. If you could live anywhere, where would you live?
71. What's the nicest thing you've ever done?
72. Do you wish on stars, lucky numbers, eyelashes?
73. What's your biggest pet peeve?
74. How did you celebrate your last birthday?
75. What age have you most enjoyed being?
76. Why do you love your favorite author or musician?
77. How do you feel about technology?
78. What season brings you the most joy?
79. Do you consider yourself detail-oriented?
80. What TV show did you like best as a kid?
81. Would you rather give a gift or receive a gift?
82. Do often make jokes? 
83. When did you last make a new friend?
84. What is the greatest accomplishment of your life?
85. Are you looking forward to something right now?
86. Which website do you visit most often?
87. Do you match the traits of your zodiac sign?
88. Are you afraid of the dark?
89. What is the most trouble you've gotten into?
90. If you could tell your younger self one thing, what would it be?
91. Would you rather give up TV or the internet?
92. Have you changed a lot in the last decade?
93. If you could have any talent, what would it be?
94. What's the most painful loss you've experienced?
95. When were you last embarrassed?
96. Would you like to be famous? 
97. Do you often sing in the shower?
98. If you could see your future, would you want to?
99. What is your earliest memory?
100. What are you most grateful for in your life?

As I created these questions, I couldn't help but answer them myself and I found some of the answers pretty eye-opening. I hope that they've inspired you to think about what it means to have knowledge of yourself, and I hope you've gained some insights from these questions that you can carry with you as continue to learn more about who you are! 

Want to empower yourself with some serious self-love? Start loving yourself (or increase the love you already have for yourself!) with the inspiration and motivation found in Loving Your Self: An Empowering Workbook for Increasing Self-Love. Filled with uplifting encouragement, thought-provoking questions, and engaging exercises, Loving Your Self is an essential tool for mastering the art of self-love. Learn more about the workbook here and purchase your own copy here.

This post is part of Just Love Yourself Month, an exciting new addition to the Positively Present! This month of self-love is inspired by my new workbook, Loving Your Self, which was designed to empower and inspire self-love. Learn more (and pick up your copy!) here. 

One of the topics I discuss in detail in my Loving Your Self workbook is how to love your mind. The thoughts you have create the life you live so it's important to direct thoughts to a positive, productive place. Learning to create a loving mindset (and loving your mind even when it isn't so positive) is an essential aspect of self-love. How you think — and speak — about yourself is vital to creating a love of who you are. Positive thoughts and words impact your mental, physical, and emotional health in a big way. One of my favorite quotes goes something like this: “If you realized how important your thoughts are, you’d never think another negative thought.” What you think about shapes your world and, in particular, it shapes who you are.