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Contrary to what you may believe, self-care isn’t selfish. It’s necessary! Taking some time to care for ourselves is more important than many of us realize.
When you’ve got commitments, responsibilities, and obligations pulling at you from all angles, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you cannot afford the time or resources to care for yourself.
Truth is, you can’t afford NOT to. Self-care can be a sanity-saver.
Read through and to see why self-care isn’t selfish. It’s necessary.
Why Self-Care Is Essential
Reduces Stress Levels Significantly
Yes, self-care is a great stress buster. In fact, taking care of yourself is the single best thing you can do to relieve stress.
Most of us are juggling several commitments at a personal and professional level. If we spend too much time in one area, we feel guilty about neglecting the other. This results in an endless cycle of guilt, leaving you feeling fatigued and stressed. It can even hamper our ability to think clearly and make the right decisions.
In this vicious cycle, the thought of taking a few minutes to care for yourself may just reinforce those feelings of guilt.
At times like this, it’s even more important to stop if only for a few minutes and focus on some much-needed self-care. These few minutes can do much to ease your stress and fatigue.
Regular self-care sessions are essential to re-charging mentally and emotionally so you feel better able to tackle whatever lies ahead. More importantly, you’ll be able to do this without that nagging feeling of overwhelm.
Refills Your Reserves So You Have More To Give To Others
While you may assume taking time to care for yourself means less time and energy you can spend on others, the reverse is actually true.
It’s all too easy to spend all your time and energy attending to the needs of others, especially if you are caring for older parents or young children.
Sure, they need your time and attention. But what about you?
Who takes care of you and makes sure that you are okay?
Have you heard that saying “You can’t pour from an empty cup”? This is so very true.
When you keep caring for others without stopping to take a breath, sooner or later your cup is going to run low. If you don’t take the time for self-care you run the risk of experiencing a total and complete burnout at which point you’re no good for anyone.
Prioritizing your personal wellbeing is good for everyone. You’ll have so much more to give if you put yourself first at least some of the time.
Increases Productivity
Getting enough sleep is an important aspect of self-care. One of the most compelling benefits of getting enough sleep is that you are able to focus better, which increases your productivity.
The average adult requires 7 to 9 hours of sleep at night. Running on less than this has potential adverse effects that you may not have considered, from reduced productivity to weight gain, inflammation, and increased irritability and stress.
Imagine having a high-pressure meeting or presentation at work, or an important exam to take at school. Do you think you’d perform better if you stay up all night drinking coffee and cramming, or after a good night of rest?
One of the most important and easiest self-care practices you can get started on right away is making sure you get enough sleep.
How do you do this? The key lies in taking small steps.
If you think you can’t get more sleep because your life is just too hectic and busy, start small! Start by setting a strict cutoff for when you’ll turn off your phone or laptop and go to bed. Then, try going to bed just ten minutes earlier for a while. Even if you don’t fall asleep right away, you’ll be training your body and mind to get into sleep mode.
Once you get used to that, you can slowly add more time. It really works!
Helps You Introspect and Get to Know Yourself Better
We are constantly changing, evolving and growing. And if you’re reading this right now, chances are personal growth is high on your list of priorities. So, it’s important to you.
Well, if you don’t regularly spend quality time with yourself, evaluating different aspects of your life, setting goals, tracking progress, and examining yourself, how do you stay familiar with who you are once you’ve changed?
Unless you intentionally work on this, you don’t.
It’s possible to outgrow the perception you have of yourself unless you establish a self-care practice that supports self-understanding.
Some ideas for self-care that will help you explore who you are include journaling (specifically reviewing old journal entries to compare your progress over time), meditation, and pursuing hobbies that involve creativity (creating art, writing literature, playing instruments).
Healthy Management of Emotions
Someone who doesn’t have a strong self-care regimen is highly likely to crumble under stress, anger or disappointment. This doesn’t have to be you.
Even the luckiest people on the planet have bad days. We suffer broken hearts, don’t achieve goals we set out to conquer, lose loved ones…
Without a solid self-care toolbox, it’s so easy to turn to unhealthy habits such as drinking to excess, seeking comfort by overindulging in food or shopping, or even becoming avoidant – neglecting our responsibilities completely. These only make bad situations even worse.
When you have great coping mechanisms for when you’re sad, angry, stressed or hurt, you’re able to deal with negative events in much healthier ways.
You’ll still feel the negative emotions – mind you – but you’ll be able to manage them. And that makes a world of difference in your overall life experience.
Boosts Your Self-Esteem
Engaging in regular self-care practices improves your self-esteem, both in obvious and not so obvious ways.
Lack of proper self-care often causes you to feel bad about yourself. For example, if you don’t take time to exercise and eat right, you may start to feel ashamed of your weight gain. Things like making an appointment at a salon for a manicure or pedicure may seem trivial and unnecessary. They aren’t.
These seemingly little things are in fact an important part of self-care. They make you feel healthy, fit, and beautiful, which goes a long way towards raising your self-esteem. With higher self-esteem, you raise your confidence, and that can help boost your mood and help with lowering your stress levels.
Journaling your true feeling, taking time before accepting or denying requests from others, and blocking off personal time in your calendar are just a few examples of simple self-care activities that can help you boost your self-esteem from the inside out.
Self-Care Isn’t Selfish – You Deserve It!
Don’t underestimate the power of taking some quality time to yourself. Self-care can be a real sanity-saver.
There are so many ways to do this, whether you allow yourself some time to meditate in the morning, get up early to have your cup of coffee alone, or have dance parties in the living room with your family. This quality time gives you a short break from your daily life, and can be so wonderful for your self-care.
Self-care doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming. There are several simple ways to integrate it into your daily life so that you can experience all the peace, positivity and progress you deserve.
Remember, self-care isn’t selfish. It’s necessary and you deserve it.
Read: Self-Care For Stress Relief – 12 Simple Things You Can Do To Take Care Of Yourself
More Books On Self-Care Isn’t Selfish
All of these books on this topic are excellent. The best part is you can find most of these books in several formats when you buy through Amazon. You can read them digitally with Amazon Kindle or you can order the paperback or hardback versions of each of these books. If you prefer audiobooks, you’ll love Amazon Audible Audiobook. You can a 30-day free trial so you can even choose one of the books below and read it for free. Another option is the Mp3 CD format.
You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life – With over 8,000 rave reviews, this is the best selling book on self-care. Take a minute to listen to the sample audio here.
Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World. Over 5,000 readers have written rave reviews about this book. Listen to the sample audio here.
The Self-Love Workbook: A Life-Changing Guide to Boost Self-Esteem, Recognize Your Worth and Find Genuine Happiness – This is a book cum workbook and is only available as a physical paperback and hardcover versions. As you go through the book, you write down your thoughts and feelings.
Love Yourself, Heal Your Life Workbook (Insight Guide)
