How To Be Selfish & Happy

I find it weird that people always associate being selfish with negativity. To clarify, why is it a bad thing to put yourself first if you’re doing it for the right reasons? From choosing to ignore a text message to quitting people pleasing, selfishness should lowkey be a form self-care.

What’s the positive way to be selfish? It’s simple, think of it as putting yourself first in ways that are not malicious or harmful to anything or anyone around you. In other words, it’s making yourself the center of intentional concern and gratification. Let’s be honest, you know yourself and what pleases you or makes you feel good. So actively doing those things to fulfill yourself without compromising is perfectly okay sometimes.

If you need some help, we’ve got you covered.

Check out 7 ways to be selfish and happy…

1. Cultivate Daily Routines

When it comes to being selfish, creating some “me time” is important. Basically, engage yourself in activities that refresh and restore your mind, body and soul. Whether it’s meditation and working out or skincare and binge watching your favorite show, set a regular time to do something for yourself.

2. Ask Yourself What You Need or Desire

A big part of being selfishly happy is figuring out what excites you. Think about your dreams, goals, guilty pleasures and go after them. Start with mapping out the baby steps you need to take and what’s achievable for the current season of your life. From little things like a personal makeover to improve your confidence or learning a new skill, do what you can.

3. Don’t Look for Validation

Being selfish literally means not caring about people’s opinions or behaviours. To put a positive spin on this, make sure you’re not looking for approval before going after the things you want.

4. Don’t Embrace Guilt

It goes without saying, that prioritizing yourself can make you feel guilty to an extent. This hits different when you’re a people pleaser, but you need to be selfish very often so people learn not to take advantage of your niceness or can-do spirit. Let them realize you know your worth and you’re not sorry about it.

5. Say No

Another interesting way to be selfish in a good way is learning how to say NO. Even better, to things or people you’d usually say yes to. Most of the time, we say yes to avoid inconveniencing other people which in turn makes us uncomfortable. So start saying NO to things that don’t serve you.

6. Invest in Yourself

Investing in yourself helps you achieve your highest potential. For example, set financial goals for yourself, take a course in your areas of interest or go for regular health checkups. Simply put, put in the effort to be your best!