By Victoria Pedersen
Kaylee Jensen/The Collegian
Loving oneself like one loves a friend can lead to success not only in the classroom but throughout life, a NW counselor said Feb. 15.
Brentom Jackson shared knowledge about concepts of self-love from social psychologist Erich Fromm, author of The Art of Loving, with NE students.
“Self-love is a behavior and a choice we make to create a healthy self-esteem,” he said. “From the healthy self-esteem, we are destined for success. For college students, it is leveraging institutional ideas of success in relation to an individual’s ideas of success.”
But students often lack healthy self-esteem.
Self-criticism is a hindrance because people focus on what’s wrong with themselves, leading to fear of failure, a lack of ability to concentrate and poor decision-making, Jackson said.
Emotional quotient or self-love leads to an understanding of self and others. It boosts resilience to the negative and increases well-being, Jackson said.
One strategy to increase self-love involves self-talk. If a friend is talking about how stupid he or she is, the inability to pass a test and suffering grades, a friend can stop the flow of self-criticism and replace it with compassion.
Students can do it for themselves as well, Jackson said.
Creating a daily gratitude list by writing down positive qualities and personal accomplishments is another strategy to building self-love. This exercise will “produce powerful and long-lasting results,” Jackson said.
Self-love is also reflected in relationships through care, responsibility, respect and knowledge.
NE interpersonal communications instructor Amber Meyers said her classes have been working on relationship issues, and this presentation “fit right in.”
