Lifestyle

3 Ways Self Love Will Skyrocket Your Impact In 2022

Published

4 years ago

February 5, 2022

Throughout the last couple of years of global pandemic, many celebrities have opened up about their personal struggles and how they are pivoting to a different mindset, choosing self-love over previous behaviors.

In a recent interview, between Oprah and Adele, in November , Adele stated that she loved herself and had become open to loving and being loved by someone else. “Everything is timing…You have to get clarity on what you really want in the soul of yourself.” When Oprah asked her, “What do you really want?” her response was, “Peace of mind and stability.”

Given the toll that job losses, health problems and a worldwide pandemic have had on society’s well-being, self-care has certainly come to the fore. Whilst some have balked at the term—saying it evokes a sense of narcissism—it’s been proven that a dearth of self-love can seriously affect your health.

Low self-esteem, caused by a negative self-image, is linked with depression, poor physical health and a lack of mental well-being. Since depression is an increasingly common and destructive blight on modern society, self-love might be the ‘antidote’ that we all need.

Host of the TV channel, ‘You Are Amazing’ on The Best You TV, and co-founder of ‘The Infinity Life’, Barbie Layton—aka Intuitive Barbie—has devoted her career to helping others literally fall in love with themselves. According to the renowned author and motivational speaker, self-love is a powerful emotion that opens one up to a new realm of personal and professional possibilities. As a vocal advocate of learning to appreciate oneself, she offers some practical advice.

Step one: Fall in love with yourself where you currently are

Whilst falling in love with the world, and yourself, may be the first step towards self-acceptance, further action is required to see a monumental life-change. A common complaint amongst adults is that they have no time for themselves. Kids, careers, and chores conspire to subjugate dreams and aspirations. There are so many other pressing duties.

But, Barbie maintains that transformational self-love must ‘reanimate’ old passions, whether it’s music, singing, painting, or something entirely entrepreneurial, like starting your own business. Part of appreciating yourself involves bringing your dreams to life and then carefully nurturing them.

In fact, according to recent studies, repeated bouts of self-compassion are strongly linked with resilience and success. The mood-enhancing effects can improve job performance and help us to do more than we ever thought possible, both privately and professionally.

Step two: Practice extreme gratitude

“Firstly, you have to tune into a frequency of gratitude. Native Americans would offer a prayer of thanks for the three hundred hands that had brought the food to their table. When I cook, it’s the same thing. I say thanks for the beautiful ingredients laid before me. I thank inanimate objects like my car, fridge or microwave because they carry an energetic frequency. And they’re there to support me. I’m acknowledging that everything is working with me, and for me, as opposed to against me.”

Barbie explains: “Extreme gratitude—as I call it—enables me to fall in love with the world around me, allowing me to easily shift out of a negative mindset and into a positive one.

Step three: Be the VIP of your own life

Turning that science into an art-form, Barbie believes that everyone should act as the ‘VIP’ of their own life. She explains: “Loving yourself means occasionally treating yourself to the better things in life. It’s not about consumerism, or spoiling yourself, but it’s an attitude that says, ‘I deserve the best.’

With pandemic-related job losses still affecting the economy, it can be easy to get into a ‘make do’ mindset where you never really put yourself first. Barbie says, “It doesn’t have to be something huge. Love yourself and act as though you are worthy of good things. Not only will it change your life but also the atmosphere around you, shifting people from a mindset of lack and fear to freedom and abundance.”

Barbie continues, “If you listen to a frequency of 528 HZ on the Solfeggio Frequencies, which sounds like Hyuuu (the tone of creation, love, and DNA) for thirty days, it can play a small part in opening up your energies to love or ‘above’ frequencies, which is the frequency where manifestation occurs. YouTube contains many free tracks. We have all watched people go through metamorphoses like the caterpillar that becomes a radiant butterfly. Above all, stay in childlike wonder and suspend disbelief that things can get better. Thank everything that supports you now and step into a better version of yourself every day just by shifting your perception.”

Lifestyle

Why Toba Ogunremi Believes High-Performing Teams Start with Belonging, Not Pressure

Published

1 day ago

July 23, 2026

Michelle Langton

Most teams don’t fall apart all at once. It happens slowly, missed conversations, quiet disengagement, people doing what’s required but nothing more.

Toba Ogunremi has spent years working inside care environments where that kind of shift is easy to miss until it starts affecting everything. Leading operations at Samorem Care in the UK, he has seen how systems can appear stable on the surface while teams underneath struggle to stay connected to their work.

One experience early in his career changed how he looks at leadership entirely.

He had taken over a team that wasn’t in crisis, but it wasn’t working well either. The people receiving care were safe, but they weren’t thriving. The same was true for the staff. There was no urgency, no energy, just routine.

The usual solution would have been to tighten control by setting new targets, increasing supervision, and creating performance plans. He didn’t do any of that.

“I started with conversations,” he says. “Real ones. Not rushed, not formal.”

One by one, he spoke to each team member. What came out wasn’t frustration with the job itself, but something quieter and harder to spot.

“They weren’t disengaged because they didn’t care,” he explains. “They were disengaged because they felt unseen.”

No one had asked what they thought. No one had taken the time to understand how they were coping. Over time, that absence had turned into distance. That moment stayed with him. It shaped how he leads today.

His approach is simple, but not always easy to apply: people perform better when they feel they belong.

He believes high performance usually comes when people feel like they genuinely belong and know that what they do actually matters.

In healthcare, where pressure is constant and expectations are high, this idea can sound secondary. The focus is often on outcomes, compliance, and efficiency. Toba doesn’t dismiss those things, but he questions what happens when they become the only focus.

Even when all the processes are in place, if the people delivering the care feel disconnected, it eventually reflects in the quality of the work.

At Samorem Care, this thinking shows up in small but consistent ways. Recruitment is not just about experience. It’s about how someone responds to people, how they handle pressure, and how they communicate. Once they are in, the focus shifts to keeping teams stable and supported, rather than constantly rotating staff or reacting only when something goes wrong. He also pays attention to how leaders show up day to day.

According to him, leadership is not just about giving direction; it’s about being present enough to understand what your team actually needs.

That presence matters more in care than in most industries. The work is demanding, often emotional, and not always recognised for what it takes. When teams feel stretched or overlooked, it affects how they interact with the people they support.

For Toba, resilience is less about constant pressure and more about creating a work environment where people can do their jobs well without burning out. In his view, strong teams are not just coping; they are supported enough to stay clear-headed and consistent in their work.

His background outside healthcare still shapes how he leads. Having worked in sales and communications, he understands how important it is to read people and build trust. In healthcare, though, the impact is far more direct, as decisions affect someone’s everyday life, not just an outcome on paper.

That shift makes leadership more personal. Teams need more than instructions; they need stability, clarity, and a sense that they are understood. What defines Toba Ogunremi’s approach is its simplicity. He focuses on being consistent, listening carefully, and addressing issues early rather than reacting late.

In the end, his belief is straightforward: teams perform better not because they are pushed harder, but because they feel valued and part of something that works.