3 Habits You Need for Better Self-Care

Self-care is a luxury these days and the idea of caring for yourself really resonates with so many women, in particular, who are juggling to keep their work-life balance or maybe even just life- in some semblance of sanity. 

This post is about the 3 habits you need to start a regular self-care routine in your life.

What started me thinking of a self-care routine is that I’m reading, kinda (I say “kinda” because for me, I’ve always got at least 3-5 books going at the same time, so my attention is split between several books- but I digress...anyway...) a new book called Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg that, well, as you can tell by the title, the premise is that habits start by tiny changes over time. Hence, the name, Tiny Habits.

It would be wonderful, in theory anyway, to start a habit of self-care.

Unfortunately, this whole concept of self-care does not come very naturally to us.

When are frazzled feminine goddesses supposed to find time for self-care activities? In the car-pool line? During a quick bathroom break?

You may not feel like you have the time - let alone the energy - to make self-care a priority so guess what? Guess where it lands on your to-do list? Yeah, you got that right: THE BOTTOM!

Yet we know, if we don’t find the time for self-care, our ability to care for others plummets. We lose our battery power so to speak. We lose our energy, our patience wears thin, our nerves are shot...

Not fun, people, not fun!

We forget about giving ourselves some tender loving care and attention – we just snap at those around us, or we’re not present for them so our quality time with them, and with ourselves is basically crap.

What to do?

You’ve got to prioritize self-care. It’s important for your well-being – your body, mind, and spirit.

How? How, Nicole, do I even begin? 


finding balance

Work on these three habits, a tiny bit at a time:

  1. Consistency
  2. Self-discipline
  3. Boundaries

Consistency

This is a huge component of making habits stick. You’ve got to show up and be consistent on a continual basis. You can be consistent over time by:

  • making the self-care behaviors/activities relatively easy to fit into your schedule
  • making it something to look forward to so you’re motivated to keep going
  • scheduling it into your actual schedule- like something you’d check off in your calendar when you’re done.

Self-discipline

Self-discipline is the ability to stick with your commitment to self-care. You’re going to be disciplined in looking past or removing distractions or temptations to canceling out your self-care. Like, say, for instance, um…reading articles on the Internet.

Boundaries

I know so many women who struggle with this one in particular. They feel a need to put everyone’s needs ahead of their own, so actually practicing self-care feels like it’s “bad” in some way. This is where it’s important to reflect on what you are willing to tolerate in your life (late-night calls or emails to answer, anyone?) and what things are non-negotiable. Learning to say no to some things, and prioritizing what’s important (like self-care) is a vitally important life skill to learn.

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