The Year You Choose Yourself: What Radical Self-Love Actually Looks Like

Written By Carielle E

This is the year you stop abandoning yourself.
The year you stop shrinking to be chosen.
The year you stop calling exhaustion “strength” and silence “peace.”

This is the year you choose you.

Not just on paper.
Not just when it’s easy.
But in the hard conversations.
The quiet moments.
The messy middle of becoming.

Because radical self-love isn’t all spa days and affirmations.
It’s deeper. Louder. Softer. And stronger than anything you've done before.

What Radical Self-Love Really Means

Radical self-love is about:

  • Choosing yourself—even when it disappoints others

  • Holding your boundaries when no one claps for it

  • Resting without guilt

  • Accepting your full story—flaws, fears, and all

  • Loving yourself in real-time, not just “when I…”

What Self-Love Is Not

  • It’s not perfection

  • It’s not avoiding growth

  • It’s not being mean or selfish

Self-love is not about being better than others—it’s about finally being good to yourself.

4 Ways to Choose Yourself This Year

1. Start Saying “Yes” to What Feels Right—Not Just What’s Expected

What if you built a year around your desires, not your obligations?

Try asking:

  • “Does this expand me or drain me?”

  • “Would I choose this if I wasn’t afraid?”

2. Let Go of What You’re No Longer Aligned With

Friendships. Habits. Projects. Roles you’ve outgrown.

Choosing yourself often looks like letting go—with love.

3. Make Space for Rituals That Bring You Back to You

  • Journaling

  • Meditation

  • Walking

  • Silence

Use the EmpowerHer Mindset Workbook to reconnect with yourself, rewrite limiting beliefs, and return to your worth—even on the hard days.

4. Hold Boundaries That Feel Like Self-Respect

Not everyone will like the new you.
And that’s okay.
You weren’t made to be understood by people who benefit from your silence.

Pause + Reflect:

What would it look like to choose yourself this year—not just once, but over and over again?

Write down one way you’ll honor that version of you.
Let her lead. Let her rise.

Want to declare your intention out loud? Tag @EmpowerHerPages and use #IChooseMe2026—we’ll cheer you on every step of the way.

Ready to Start Choosing Yourself in Every Chapter of Your Life?

The EmpowerHer Mindset Workbook walks you through reflection, boundaries, and confidence-building prompts to help you stop settling—and start choosing you.

Carielle E
Next

Reparenting Yourself in Adulthood: What It Looks Like and Why It Matters