Feeling guilty about focusing on your own health and happiness? You’re not alone. Most people have been brought up to put themselves last, sacrifice their own well-being for the sake of others, going above and beyond the call of duty to make sure that others are happy. This attitude is not found only in family or social settings. It permeates the workplace and professional environments too.
While considering the needs of others is no doubt a noble thought, the flip side of this is that you could burn yourself out in the process. In such a situation, you would not be able to help anyone else.
The best and most practical example that we’re all familiar with is the safety guidelines given in an airplane before it takes off – in times of crisis, put on your own oxygen mask before you try to help anyone else, whether it’s a co-passenger, your child or family member. This advice rightly prioritizes the order in which care should be given so that it is most effective. It is also important to take some time to learn about self care.
How To Focus on Self Care For Health and Happiness
The first step in this journey is to change your attitude. Prioritizing yourself and your wellness and positive state of mind is not being selfish. All it means is that you recognize and respect your own mental, physical and spiritual needs. This will help you to achieve your personal goals and also lend a hand to others who need your assistance and care.
Focusing on your own unique requirements means that you spend time in reflection and self-analysis, listening to your body, observing your own inner dialogue, evaluating whether you are as kind to yourself as you are to others. You are your own best friend and unless you know yourself well, that is not a true friendship.
To help you understand yourself better, set aside a part of the day to engage in reflection and meditation. You can also practice journaling, create a timeline of daily thoughts, ideas and plans that you can go back to and compare whether you still feel the same a month later.
Once you’ve figured out the main points of your personality and needs, you can create a detailed self-care plan. You can divide it up into physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, environmental and social activities that you can do regularly. Ensure that you put in the necessary details. In physical self care, you need the proper nutrition, hydration, exercise and sleep. Create a schedule that allows you to cook simple, balanced meals that are fresh and healthy. In exercises, select regimes that are non-complicated, don’t need expensive equipment or gym memberships, and are within easy access to your home or office. Make your sleep habits regular, organize your living and working spaces, de-clutter and make tidying-up as easy and convenient as possible.
Emotionally, learn to recognize your stress points and create simple strategies to rest and digest when the fight or flight response kicks in. Yoga, Tai Chi, mindfulness and gratitude practices are the right roads to travel on.
Socially, learn to set boundaries, recognize energy vampires and respect yourself without confrontation. Be compassionate to yourself and others, learn new skills, connect with people in a more real way and never compare or contrast yourself with neighbors, friends, family members or worst of all with a celebrity!
Accept changes in your mind and body and find new ways to deal with the world as you change. We learn values as we age, but life has ways of eroding many of the basic principles that we hold dear. Don’t beat yourself up for slipping once in a while but make sure you don’t lose sight of core values such as honesty, self-respect and kindness.