Self Care Quiz Time!
Are you selfish? Are you strong? Are you self indulgent?
I kind of hope your answer is YES to all three!! We all need to be a little selfish – in a good way! You are strong. Taking care of yourself might seem self indulgent and that’s fine too! It’s totally okay to take care of yourself. You deserve to feel as amazing as you work so hard for everyone else to feel.
There are a ton of different ways to practice self care – download my free self care guide with 30 Self Care ideas and get started right away. There is something for everyone, my friend. Most self care strategies have some common threads and tend to involve MAKING TIME to get enough sleep, prioritizing healthy eating, working for a BALANCE of leisure time in your schedule, and making time for friends.
Areas of Self Care
- Physical – Examples of physical self care might include eating healthier, starting regular exercise, wearing clothes you love, or a daily time out to focus on breathing.
- Psychological – Be curious for a day, make time for self-reflection and pay attention to your inner thoughts, feelings, attitudes. Journaling is a great way to work on psychological self care.
- Emotional – Allow yourself to feel your emotions!
- Spiritual – Spiritual self care can take many forms. You can contribute to causes you care about, meditate, spend time in nature, maybe sign up for a spiritual daily text message!
- Professional – Decorate your workspace in a way that helps you feel great and engage with co-workers when you can!
To be honest, the best way to be able to care for others is to make sure you are caring for yourself in each of the five ares. Practicing self care is essential to your mental health and wellness – taking time to listen to what you need and finding a way to address it doesn’t make you selfish, it makes you STRONG.
Remember that self-care is not optional, it’s essential.
Get started with simple ideas from my free Self Care Guide! Next, make a self care plan! What will you do today? Take a brisk walk, practice positive self talk with my favorite affirmation, “I’m kinda a big deal!” or sit in silence for 5 minutes even.
Negative Self Talk
If negative self talk is an issue for you, take note every time you are engaging in negative self talk and work hard to replace the thoughts that drag you down with positive anchor thoughts. Store up a bank of feel good and positive thoughts / memories that you can draw on to combat the negativity. Here is an example: An athlete might have a certain song they listen to to “get in the zone” – a certain emotional state. Then, just thinking about that song can get them into that state when they need it.
What self care is: essential, strong, preventative
What self care is not: selfish, self indulgent, reactionary
Outsourcing is self care!
One thing I outsource is housecleaning. It might seem luxurious, but for my family it has become a necessity. Before you decide you can’t afford something like housecleaning, take some time to review your spending. Do a cost/benefit analysis!
By outsourcing housecleaning, you will earn back precious time – seriously, what is your hourly wage? Plus, what about all the time you spend thinking about housecleaning and begging others to do their part? For me and my family, it’s totally worth it. And, my cleaning service brings their own cleaning supplies so I reclaimed that money and that storage space too!
Decrease Distractions
Self care doesn’t always have to be done alone. You might enjoy teaming up with a buddy for a trip to the spa or salon – or even a day of home pampering! If you do need time to yourself, don’t be afraid to take it. Just be sure to decrease the distractions. I have found that my morning routine is the perfect time for self care. Everyone else is sleeping!
- Shut a door. DO IT! Seriously. If you need time to regroup, make it clear that you need to be left alone.
- At work, check your e-mail just a few scheduled times a day―maybe 9 a.m., noon and at 4 p.m.
- At home, take a break from social media.
- A Netflix binge might be good for self care now and then. Try and stick to an episode or two, rather than an entire season! The time investment we make in television shows doesn’t yield many rewards. And, studies show that watching TV doesn’t make people nearly as happy as activities like playing tennis, taking a walk, and eating with family.
Be sure and grab my free Self Care Guide with 30 Self Care Ideas and a bonus self care bingo board!