Morning All and Happy Sunday!
I hope you have had a beautiful week so far and as the weekend has rolled out, you've had a chance to grab a little you time, which as you know from last week's weekly intention, is exactly what we are going to focus on this week. Making yourself a priority on the list of things you have to do in your daily life.
Last week, I retouched on an old weekly intention that I had sent out previously, learning to set boundaries and understanding that you can still be a kind person, and still say no. And I know from your responses in the last few days that this one hit home again. So, this week we are going to take it a step further and look at ways we can implement into our lives, making our needs as important as others and why it's not selfish, rather it's a necessity.
It goes without saying that we live in a society that does not stop. We are so busy in our everyday lives. We all have goals, careers, families. Deadlines that dictate our to do list. This report is due, this email needs to be written, families to feed, bills to be paid, social events to attend because it is deemed as networking or we don't want to let anyone down. The list goes on. Stress and fatigue start to accumulate because of long working hours both in our jobs and then within our home life. We get lost in a vortex of screens, cutoff dates with information overload which overtime leads to burn out, disconnection from ourselves and those around us, disconnection from our core values and beliefs, the development of unhealthy habits such as poor food choices or vices. And the longer this goes on the more it leads to stress, anxiety and illness. We've also built ourselves a reality that the more we do and achieve the better we are deemed to be "succeeding in life". So again, the faster we go, the more we do, the bigger our to do list, the more accomplished we are, and boom! Look at me go! I'm achieving in life. I got it all together. But how is this achieving in life if your own personal stress and anxiety levels are on the borderline of breakdown and your personal health is shot? Our attention starts slipping, focus lacks, relationships break down. The list goes on. Now I think we all know that life is not about to change overnight. Our careers are not going to change. The pressures of our job is not going to ease. We still have to earn an income. We still have deadlines to meet and bills to pay. We will still have meals to cook and families to look after, children to take to sport and social events to attend. That is reality. But how can we look after ourselves more so perhaps the pressures of life don't seem so overwhelming?
Look at the list of things that are important to you. Where do you rate yourself? Be honest, most of us will list ourselves right at the bottom. Why do we do that? Why do we put our own mental health and wellbeing at the bottom of this list of what's important in life? I won't dive into this one here, because our reasons for doing this will be so different. Family pressure, work pressure, society pressure, keeping up with the Joneses, lack of self-love or lack of self-esteem. What I will do is ask that this week you make a conscious effort to prioritise yourself. Put yourself first. And don't feel guilty about it. Whether it's a small thing you do daily, or some time you block out for yourself in the week, put you at the top of the list for one moment.
Some ways to do this might be:
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Talk about it. Give yourself permission to express your feelings and your emotions. Talking about how you feel or what you need does not make you weak, inferior or incapable, rather it gives opportunity to open up levels of communication around you building strong and healthy relationships. There is strength in vulnerability. Voicing your wants and needs is also the first step toward making self-care a priority.
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Understand that self-care is not a luxury it's a necessity. Taking care of yourself is an indispensable part of unleashing your full potential, achieving peace of mind, living a joyful happy life, and creating a positive change within yourself and the world around you. Self-care is not something you step away from work for only to then feel guilty for “wasting” the time to do so, it is how you are investing in yourself to become your most valuable asset. Make it part of your life and part of your job.
- Block time for you in your Calander- If you want to aim for productivity make time for it. Actually, block time out for the activities you want to do. Exercise, social time, mediation. Make time to hit your yoga mat. Whatever. All of the things that bring you peace and make you feel fulfilled.
- Set Boundaries - Revert back to last week's email for this one and if you didn't get it, email me.
- Stop Comparing yourself to others - You're not living someone else's life. Their reality is not your reality, so stop looking over the fence to see if the grass is greener or worse, where you deem yourself to fall short or be inadequate. I can guarantee you if you to live one day in the life of another, feel what they feel, think what they think and see what they see, you would realise just how vastly different we all are and how different our realities are. So, look after your own peace of mind and always be kind to yourself and to others.
Again, thank you for being part of my little online studio. It means the world to me and I really do appreciate you all. Please reach out to me at anytime. If there are classes, you want to see more of or posts you want me to write on. I find so much joy in doing this, so please reach out.
❤️and be kind, always.