This year has been a year for books.
Between the pandemic and political unrest, many of us are adjusting our lives to accommodate our new normal.
What’s important to remember is that there is still a whole lot of good going on in the world every day. What’s really important is that you continue to take the best possible care of yourself regardless of what’s happening all around you.
You can prioritize your health, self-care, and you can take measures to reduce your stress and anxiety levels.
The key is to have a plan.
A self-care plan will have a positive effect on multiple areas of your life.
What is a Self-Care Plan?
A self-care plan is a customized strategy that considers your physical health as well as your emotional, mental and intellectual health.
Your self-care plan is a useful tool to keep you from being completely drained. Just like you wouldn’t let the battery on your car die without being recharged, you shouldn’t let your own die either.
A self-care plan ensures you’re taking care of yourself.
Having a plan to honour your body, develop your knowledge and nourish your soul will also help reduce your stress as you begin to practice your strategy regularly.
Why a Self-Care Plan?
Besides the obvious reasons why a regular self-care routine and a stress management strategy are important, here are some people don’t often consider.
- Increase productivity
- Greater resistance to disease
- Improved physical health
- Better self-esteem
- Increased self-knowledge
- Improved sleep
- Greater feelings of balance and overall well-being
- Enhances happiness and life quality
- Happier people give more, and that causes increased happiness all over
Your self-care strategy is personal to you and your needs.
Customizing Your Self-Care Plan
Start your plan by considering the areas of your life that you want to focus on: physical, emotional, social, intellectual, career, finance, and spiritual.
On a blank sheet of paper or a fresh sheet in your journal, write the areas you want to focus on.
- Brainstorm activities or things that you can do to lower your stress levels
- Add self-care activities that you enjoy
- Write down things you’d like to try
The goal of this part of the activity is to have these ideas where you can find them easily to use when you need a pick-me-up or something to do that’ll make you happy and less stressed.
Once you’ve listed the activities you’d like to do, add in some activities that support your goals. If you have health goals, maybe this list will include exercises you enjoy.
Consider how you like to expand your mind. If you’re working on your finances, maybe you’ll spend some time reading about strategies to eliminate debt.
Next, make note of any barriers that might hinder your self-care efforts. Then create ways to overcome the barriers. For example, time is always a challenge.
If you know you’ll be less likely to get your work out in when you come home exhausted from work, you’ll likely have a better chance getting it done if you schedule it in the morning. You’ll also feel like you’ve won the day already when you get it out of the way!
Routine is Key
You can prepare for your self-care. Make your Self-Care Plan as simple as possible. Create a checklist to use each day and schedule your self-care right into your daily routine.
Don’t know where to start? Google search a daily self-care checklist. There are plenty out there. Here are some possibilities to include on your checklist:
- Morning routine
- Exercise
- Knowledge expansion activities (reading/podcast or webinar listening, watching documentaries, taking courses)
- Evening or sleep routine
- Time spent with friends, family, social circle, etc.
When you’re mapping out your self-care plan, and creating your checklist, make it visual. The more that you see it, the more you’ll practice it.
Your checklist is simply a success tool. It’s a guideline to follow or strive to achieve each day. You don’t have to check everything off every day.
Kick Guilt to the Curb
Self-care is not selfish.
There’s no reason whatsoever to feel guilty for taking some time to give yourself what you need to grow, rejuvenate, and honour your body.
We’re often kinder to strangers than we are to ourselves. I am notorious for this one!
If your friend mentioned in a chat that they were feeling tired or run down, you’d encourage them to get some rest or do something meaningful that makes them happy.
So the question is… why aren’t you following your own advice?
Just like the emergency procedures on a plane – to put your own mask on before helping your neighbour – it’s important to take care of ourselves first. We can’t pour from an empty cup, and
the more relaxed, happier and balanced you are, the more energy you’ll have to give to others you care for and do the good work you do.
Approaching your self-care and stress with a plan is one of the greatest steps you can take toward creating a healthy lifestyle for yourself and you’re already on the way.
IF you’d like some help creating a self-care plan that fits into your schedule, then I’d be delighted to chat with you. Book your complimentary LOVE YOUR LIFE Strategy Call with me and we’ll design one just for you, together.
Love in Progress 