Learning how to take care of yourself is a popular topic. However, in my experience, many of us do not understand what REAL self care is. It is far much more than a manicure!
In this weeks Amazing Coaching newsletter, I will share my top 5 Self Care Tips. The truth is that real self care is far more than booking yourself in for a massage treatment or doing something fun or nice. It is also being proactive about your emotional wellbeing rather than waiting until something goes wrong, before you decide to take better care of yourself.
Real self care is caring about how you feel.
When you practice real self care, you commit to caring more about how you feel. This means consciously deciding to prioritize your feelings and tuning into your emotions. It means ‘checking’ in with yourself to see how you feel and making decisions based upon what is best for you.
Real self care can be tough. It is holding yourself accountable and busting your own excuses. It is the actions that you take to look after yourself in order to develop, protect, maintain and improve your wellbeing. This includes your emotional, physical and mental wellbeing.
Self Care can be Tough!
We often believe that self care is just doing something nice for ourselves that feels good. However, real self care can be difficult. Here are some examples of real self care:
- Being assertive and standing up for yourself
- Saying No to other people
- Breaking contact with a friend, partner or family member
- Learning to self soothe yourself when you feel ‘ upstream’
- Making time for yourself ( and committing to this time!) rather than just squeezing in some self care time when you have time.
Try these 5 Self Care Tips:
- Create a list of ‘ What you will accept‘ and what ‘ You won’t accept’ from other people. This could include not accepting people who put you down or continually criticise you. Make sure you adhere to this list even if it means speaking up and telling people how you feel.
- Create a ‘ NO’ list. This should include things you know you don’t like or you no longer want to do. Examples might include: Not checking emails at night, not spending time with people who drain your energy or not answering your phone when you are resting or after 8pm.
- Care so much about your own emotional wellbeing that you refuse to scare yourself with scary thoughts. Learn the art of self soothing and learn to take control of your own thoughts. Choose supportive and encouraging thoughts, rather than negative and fearful thoughts.
- Get your body moving. Exercise is as good for our emotional health as it is for our physical health. It increases serotonin levels, leading to improved mood and energy. Choose an activity that sends you downstream!
- Write a list of 20 things that make you happy and make sure you do at least one a day. When you do this, you are making an effort for yourself and choosing to prioritise your own happiness.
Don’t give up!
It is so important to make self care a key part of your lifestyle rather than just fitting it in when you have time. This involves really taking responsibility for how you feel and making tough decisions that support your own wellbeing.
Life Coach in Corby, Northants.
Formally based in Sydney, Australia, Lisa Phillips is an award winning Life Coach and Confidence expert with over 22 years experience. Lisa is also a trained counsellor and Master NLP Practitioner. She works with people all over the world helping them to find their authentic self and increase their confidence and self esteem.
Lisa is also a popular Cruise Ship Speaker and her work features regularly in the media. She is currently the Life Coaching expert on The Love Destination TV.
Why not contact Lisa Phillips today for a no-obligation chat?
