“When you don’t get love, learn to love yourself more!”
While we don’t want to rob Valentine’s Day of its couples focus and its celebration of romantic love, it doesn’t have to be a day where the single person is left out. Instead of waiting for someone else to arrive with the heart-shaped box of chocolates, the single person can find a special way to show themselves love and appreciation.
Self-love and self-care offer an opportunity for each of us to enjoy life and add positive texture to who we are. When we treat ourselves well in a healthy manner, it fortifies a sense of self-worth and creates greater balance. An opportunity to practice self-care may be the perfect gift to give yourself on Valentine’s Day.
Self-care done right is usually comprised of ongoing routines that help relieve stress and nurture balance. Typically, this form of healthy self-love is integrated into a lifestyle and involves daily stress management, nutrition, hygiene, sufficient sleep, and so on.
Here we’re offering something a little different for your Valentine’s Day. Let’s call them “self-care adventures.” The list below comprises one-shot activities designed to counterbalance the routine and stresses of everyday life. They are meant to be Valentine’s gifts to yourself to be unwrapped lovingly and savored deeply.
While we’ve listed our suggestions according to personality type, feel free to use any suggestion that appeals to you regardless of your type. There’s nothing exclusive about any of the suggestions. Pick one and make it a gift to yourself.
If you don’t know your personality type, we invite you to take our free personality test.
Analyst Personality Types
Architect (INTJ)
Highlight and honor your opinions, Architect. Go on a photo safari someplace you’ve never been before and take pictures of things that catch your eye. You don’t have to go far from your home, and the camera on your phone should be all the equipment you need. Post the best of them online and write about why you chose the scene or subject that you did.
Logician (INTP)
Affirm your place in humankind. Go to the busiest place you can think of, even traveling to a nearby city or town if necessary. Grab your choice of beverage, find a good place to sit, and spend some significant time doing some unabashed people-watching. What do you like about what you see, Logician? What surprises you?
Commander (ENTJ)
Let go of the need to perform constantly. Take a few hours and allow yourself some time to do nothing but binge-watch a TV series. Make sure to avoid phones or other electronic devices apart from the one used to watch your program. If this activity feels lazy and self-indulgent, then you’re doing it right, Commander.
Debater (ENTP)
Be a little introspective. Using old magazines, create a collage representing all the various parts of you, concentrating on your strengths. And you don’t have to be alone to look inward. This can be a fun and informative group activity. Then, post it somewhere in your home. (As a Debater, you likely have a better idea of how to be self-affirming. Go for it.)
Diplomat Personality Types
Advocate (INFJ)
Relax your body, Advocate. You must be tired from constantly carrying the cares of the world on your shoulders. Get a massage to loosen up any tense muscles and to let someone else take care of you for a while. There are often coupons or introductory deals that can make massages more affordable if cost is a concern.
Mediator (INFP)
Enjoy alone time. Treat yourself to an hour in an isolation tank. While you’re recharging, Mediator, you can let your stress dissolve into the body-temperature salt water. Such an excursion is especially good if you are wrestling with a creativity problem. (No place to float nearby? A hot bath with spa music, candles, and Epsom salts is a reasonable substitute.)
Protagonist (ENFJ)
Step back for a while. If you’re celebrating on a weekday, call in sick if you have time available. Call it a mental health day. If Valentine’s Day falls on a weekend, Protagonist, add your mental health day onto it and make it a three-day weekend. What you do with it is up to you.
Campaigner (ENFP)
Absorb good vibes, Campaigner. Ask the nicest, most positive person you know if they would like to take a hike or a long walk with you. Have no agenda. The activity is about putting one foot in front of the other and sharing life with an upbeat person for a while.
Sentinel Personality Types
Logistician (ISTJ)
Logistician, let go. Find time to be alone. Close the blinds. Turn on your favorite music and dance like nobody’s watching. You know you want to dance freestyle all over your living room. And even if you don’t, take the risk anyway and have some fun. What can it hurt?
Defender (ISFJ)
Enjoy your own company. See a movie by yourself. Taking personal time from work or school and going to a matinee gives you extra points for the added effort toward creating balance, Defender, but going during the evening or on weekends works fine as well. Don’t forget the popcorn.
Executive (ESTJ)
Lose the strategy. Go for a drive in the country or a walk in the city and wander. For this field trip, there is no destination as you follow your curiosity and your instincts wherever they lead you. You don’t always need a map, Executive.
Consul (ESFJ)
Be self-indulgent. Buy yourself a box of chocolates, your favorite premier ice cream, or another snack, and curl up in bed with a good book, sporting event, or movie for the afternoon. It’s not like you do this every day, right, Consul?
Explorer Personality Types
Virtuoso (ISTP)
Make it fresh. Rearrange something: your home, your workspace, your vinyl collection…anything. Make it more efficient and interesting, Virtuoso. If you have a cluttered corner that you’ve been looking at for way too long, declutter it. Do it not as a chore or to impress anybody, but as a gift to yourself and for your sense of organization and well-being.
Adventurer (ISFP)
Revisit childhood. Coloring books aren’t just for kids anymore. Purchase an adult coloring book and some colored pencils and spend a few hours staying within the lines…or not. Unleash your creativity with your color choices if you’re so inclined. Who says you can’t color the sun green, Adventurer?
Entrepreneur (ESTP)
Step off life’s treadmill, Entrepreneur. Put on a set of headphones and listen to your favorite music for a while. Do nothing other than immerse yourself in the nuances of the music, and if there are lyrics, enjoy the story being told in the songs.
Entertainer (ESFP)
Single and social. Gather any of your single friends together for a Valentine’s Day potluck dinner, Entertainer, and celebrate the advantages that being single offers. “It’s great not having to check with another person before I do something. Pass the baked ziti, please.”
Happy Valentine’s Day
Whether you’re single, coupled, or unsure, make it a great day. Show yourself some love and spread it to others where you can.