I did a li’l post on socials about how self care isn’t what the marketers want to sell you – ‘dewy’ foundation; silk pj’s; more supplements; the summer dress you need; great brows; an 8 week challenge. I mean, they might be! And all the pampering? Well, I love it as much as the next chick.
In the post, I was saying that it’s the little things that are free, and in the moment, that count. We can pay for luxury, spoil ourselves, ask for beauty gift vouchers for Christmas, and get away for a child free weekend. These are all delightful if we enjoy them.
It’s also so much more than that. Taking a walk; meditating; writing; deep breathing and so on are all free and easy to do and can be fantastic ways to practise self care.
It’s also possible to be really stressed when you do those things. You can still have a racing mind. You can be uncomfortable during a meditation. Going for a walk doesn’t necessarily mean you’re present in the here and now. And those examples are all about what you’re doing.
So I’m calling out my own post, knowing that true self care includes more than what we’re doing.
Rest assured, I’m not about to launch into the Be-Do-Have model that a rookie coach might unleash right about now.
Instead, these are 50 ideas that just flowed like water, that take this idea of ‘self-care’ to a different depth again.
Are there more? Of course! Do you ‘need’ to do them all? Not at all. In fact, I suspect that would be completely overwhelming. It’s also highly likely that you won’t be able to just start doing these without some help.
There’s also a possibility that these will be too much, and you’d rather just focus on the tangibles – breathwork; a walk; having a cuppa in peace. That is also just fine.
Might they inspire you to adopt 1 or 2? Maybe. That’s for you to decide.
So here are the first 50 ideas that popped into my head when I thought about what self care truly can and might be, whether that’s in your business, your work, or your home life. Take what you like and leave what you don’t:
- It’s the thoughts in your mind when you go to bed at night or when you wake up in the morning.
- It’s the way you speak to yourself after you shouted at your kids.
- It’s the way you handle something that hasn’t gone to plan.
- It’s the voice in your head when a launch flops.
- It’s the self talk when you take on work that you don’t have the time or the energy for.
- It’s the way you show up for yourself when you stick to a commitment that’s hard.
- It’s the times when you let yourself rest when you are so tired.
- It’s the times resist rest and you avoid judging yourself.
- It’s the feeling when an affirmation pops up on your phone each morning, reminding you that you’re awesome.
- It’s the times you feel like hot chips, chocolate or an ice cream and you give yourself that with joy.
- It’s the afternoon off that you plan for yourself when you know you’ve got a big week of work.
- It’s sharing something hard or asking for help when it’s easier not to.
- It’s not making a sale and not making it about you.
- It’s giving yourself permission to change your mind.
- It’s leaving a relationship that is done.
- It’s buying yourself something you love, not out of scarcity or impulse, but out of love.
- It’s investing in yourself and your business when it would be easier to put it off because it’s scary.
- It’s sharing with your partner that something is really important to you.
- It’s getting up earlier to sit quietly in peace and connect to you, when it’s warm and toasty in bed. Or the opposite when that equals self care.
- It’s sleeping on a decision if that’s what works for you.
- It’s honouring the parts of you that want to be seen and heard.
- It’s letting go of the parts of you that are no longer needed, with deep love and gratitude.
- It’s asking yourself the hard questions and facing your truth.
- It’s making a decision to set a goal and then taking action on it, without attachment to the outcome.
- It’s crying when you’re sad, and raging when you’re angry (at an appropriate time and in an appropriate space), instead of pushing the feelings away or down deeper.
- It’s getting curious about the shades of grey in a situation, not only the black and white options that are obvious to you.
- It’s giving yourself permission to learn something new, or do it a different way.
- It’s immersing yourself in experiences that light you up, no matter what anyone else thinks of them.
- It’s turning off the noise that isn’t beneficial.
- It’s feeling connected – to yourself; to others.
- It’s being willing to re-look at a limiting belief that you thought you’d ‘worked through’.
- It’s trusting yourself even when you don’t know how things will work out, or what the next steps are.
- It’s asking for what you need, even when that’s uncomfortable.
- It’s resisting the perceived pressure to be something you’re not.
- It’s resisting the perceived pressure to do something you don’t want to.
- It’s celebrating all your wins, no matter how many ‘losses’ there are, or your progress tally.
- It’s being present in this moment right now – not just with your body but with your thoughts as well.
- It’s making decisions that will make you proud on your death bed.
- It’s making decisions that you are not proud of but that you have made peace with.
- It’s forgiving yourself and acknowledging your humanity.
- It’s leaving somewhere you don’t want to be or going somewhere you want to be.
- It’s realising you’ve met your goals but you’re not happy, and acknowledging that.
- It’s doing what makes you happy now, that you won’t regret tomorrow.
- It’s knowing that it’s the expectations you have of yourself that matter most.
- It’s letting go of expectations of others.
- It’s delaying instant gratification.
- It’s resting when you’re sick, even when you’re ‘supposed’ to be working.
- It’s knowing you are enough, even when your ‘results’ suggest otherwise.
- It’s removing distractions that are keeping you from being present.
- It’s being vulnerable and owning your truth.
Feel free to focus on 1-3 of these and see what changes.
Kylie x
Looking for some help to avoid burnout in 2023, and embrace real self care instead? Head here to find out more.
Tags: burnout Mindset Coaching people-pleaser selfcare stress transformational coaching
