I was just scrolling on Tumblr a few minutes ago.
(Tumblr is sort of a last resort to me, after Facebook, YouTube, and Netflix. I say last resort mostly because I follow a lot of cheesy sorority girl blogs, which I need to get around to unfollowing.)
Anyway.
I'm getting really, really, really, tired of the phrase, "In order to love someone else, you must first learn to love yourself."
You read that right; that was 3 "really"s. Here's why.
I get what the quote is initially supposed to communicate. No doubt it is said to another person as a sort of relationship advice and so it could therefore be applicable to countless situations. We say it to each other I think because we want the person we're saying it to to respect themselves. To actually not throw their heart around a field of potential lovers as if it were a frisbee. To not jump from person to person and to allow one relationship ending poorly (or ending, period) to be justification to rebound into a new one. To guard their heart and to not open up to just anyone. This, I think, is good advice and it is scriptural as well.
However.
"In order to love someone else, you must first learn to love yourself."
Forget that. You know why?
You already love yourself. 
Loving yourself wasn't something that you needed to learn. I remember hearing the phrase for the first time when I was a child and thinking it was so silly. That's because we are born with an innate desire to love, because we are made in the image of God. We didn't need to learn how to love our parents. We didn't need to learn how to love our friends. Yes, when we get older we make an effort to love our enemies or troublesome coworkers, and how to love/show love romantically, but that's another conversation entirely. You don't need to figure out how to love yourself, because you already do.
You say, "Gerry, I hate myself."
You don't, and here's how I know why.
You feed yourself, clothe yourself, and most likely have some kind of job to support yourself. If there's a mirror nearby, you will look at it, and check yourself out. Also, who is the first person you search for in a group photograph? You. You want to make sure you look okay. You want to be liked by others. Want to be accepted, want to be heard. This is because you love yourself. Because if you didn't, you wouldn't care. If you truly hated yourself, you wouldn't scrutinize your body like you do, you wouldn't put makeup on in the morning or buy shoes that you look nice in to impress others; to have that desire to be accepted. If you truly hated yourself, you wouldn't post the things you do online to draw attention. If you say "I hate myself", chances are your eyes are too focused on yourself because all you can think about is what you have done wrong or how you aren't good enough. Both Love and Hate are similar, because both require passion. This is why the opposite of love is not hate. The opposite of love, is apathy.
C.S. Lewis puts it brilliantly, and he says, "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less."
The problem is not that we don't love ourselves. The problem is that we put ourselves down, because we are so self-centered. Its why we take criticism personally. It is why we make excuses for ourselves so we don't get in trouble.
You want healthy self-esteem, self confidence? You were made in the image of God. Is that not enough for you? If you want to truly love others, take your eyes off of yourself, and focus on showing compassion to others.
Its like this excerpt from the poem by Sam Levenson:

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day.

Once you choose to make your life about showing kindness and respect to others, and just showing love in the simplest ways;  you will then discover that loving oneself becomes second nature, and that is because it is already in place.
Life is about taking the love that we already have and learning that its like wildfire: the more we give it, the more it spreads. The more we keep it to ourselves and contain it, the more we suffocate the flame.

"We love Him, because He first loved us."
1 John 4:19.