Journaling, therapy, doing mirror work and affirmations are just some of the tools I have used to learn to love myself. Healing isn’t linear. I also don’t think there is necessarily a cut and paste method to it.
Different things work for different people. All I can say is, the relationship you have with yourself is reflected in the relationships you have with others. Life is like a mirror and I am continuously working on liking what I see in it. I make an effort on a daily basis, to continuously shower myself with a lot of grace and love, because whether I am doing well or not, I deserve to love myself and not jump through hoops to give myself that love.
As we know, healing has a lot of layers at times. Every time I choose self-compassion over self-criticism, I peel away a layer at a time to get closer to the root of the issue. It’s a challenge at times, but oh so worth it.