I know that start of the year always reignites everyone’s motivation for what we want to do and achieve in life and in our respective careers or business. We form these goals and objectives in our minds, we verbalise them to our family and friends and we hit the road running full steam ahead but by the time Easter comes around the motivation is already starting to run low, obstacles have come our way, there just isn’t enough time in the day for everything and the fatigue is starting to kick in… Does this sound familiar?
Personally, this has been my vicious cycle for a couple of years now but towards the end of 2019 I came to a harsh realisation that having these all these objectives in mind without self-care along the way will only result in complete mental, spiritual and physical exhaustion. Which is why I decided to take a step back and really take a break as my start to the new year. In that time sat and really took a good look at myself and realised that my cup was completely empty. I had given so much of myself to my family, friends, my work, my studies that I had nothing left. Don’t get me wrong I love all of these things but the problem was I was just pushing too hard to be everything everyone expected me to be (ok more honestly what I thought everyone expected me to be) that I was just completed overwhelmed and burnt out. I kept asking myself how do all these amazing, successful women do it? What am I doing wrong? The answer came to be while reading various interviews on some of the women I admired – they took time to look after themselves and refill their cup.
Looking after yourself – what’s that phenomenon?
Yip, that was the first thing I said to myself when I heard these women talk about taking time to look after their wellbeing. I also come a few realisations firstly it’s ok to be selfish and take time for yourself and secondly like with everything in life, it comes down to the choices you make. I made a choice that day to commit to myself this year. I have made a choice to do small things daily/ weekly / monthly that will ensure that I continuously refill my cup in order to truly be the best that I can me.
It’s the small actions that lead to big results
I have put together a list of my the small commitments I made to myself daily and although on some days it falters, I have chosen to make this part of my journey of self-love, growth and happiness, hope you find it useful too!
- Wake up early and start your day with a grateful heart and prayer or meditation
- Keep a journal – this has been a hard one for me, but its amazing how when you put your plans, ideas or obstacles down to paper how much clearer your vision becomes and how much easier the obstacles seem to overcome
- Drink more water! Yes, I think this is an obvious one that you have probably heard a million times, but seriously getting that H2O in really does make a difference to your energy levels and this coming from a BIG coffee lover is saying a lot
- Get active – even if its just a walk in your garden or office block during a lunch or coffee break, get up and get moving
- Activate the mind – whether it’s watching a YouTube video on a topic that interests you, reading a book or signing up for a course. Do something that will keep your mind active and where you will be enriching yourself mentally
- Less screen time – make it a point to be on your phone less or cut back on tv time, allow those things to be a treat not a bad habit
- Fail forward – Learn from every mistake that you make.
- Embrace change and spontaneity
- Be truly present in the moment – time is a precious commodity don’t waste it.
- Be kind to yourself and others
Its your choice
I know making these changes aren’t easy – I am a work in progress myself but you’ve got this! As Darren Hardy once said “Everything you need is already inside you. Don’t wait for others to light your fire. You have your own matches” .