Whether it’s National Self Care Awareness Month or not, it’s always a good time to go deeper on your self care journey. If you’re currently experiencing burnout, you might be tempted to roll your eyes at the mention of self care. We get it. But the kind of self care we’re talking about has nothing to do with hot girl walks or eucalyptus bubble baths. We’re talking about the deep stuff, the inner self care, the kind that’s not easy and can even be uncomfortable, but that will help you through this period of burnout.
So, if you’re ready to build your inner self care toolkit, here are five ways to get started:
1. Ritualize your daily practices
If you’ve read Atomic Habits (highly recommend), you probably know that your environment impacts your ability to maintain habits and that there’s a strategy to forming healthy habits. Our 2-part advice is to read or listen to Atomic Habits, and then find ways to ritualize your daily practices. Maybe that means setting up a space in your home that feels peaceful and welcoming so you look forward to your meditation time. It could also mean stacking some healthy practices and making a daily ritual of it.
2. Do a wellness check on other areas of your life
…like your finances! The real self care is when you do the uncomfortable because you know it will improve your well-being in the long run. Create or update your budget, set some savings goals, or start by just checking on your finances, sometimes we avoid looking at it completely which doesn’t help our money mindset. Neglecting the areas of life that make us anxious doesn't mean it'll disappear and we'll never have to face it. Facing it on your terms is much better than having to approach it reactively.
3. Try Mel Robbins' High 5 Habit
You can hear her talk all about it on this episode of the Jay Shetty podcast. It sounds so simple at first, but it’s really so deep. The gist of it is to take some time first thing in the morning to look in the mirror and check in on yourself and give yourself a high 5. Piece of cake, right? When you look yourself in the eyes for the first time, you’ll see why it’s not as easy as you thought. This practice will definitely deepen the love and respect you have for yourself, and that will go a long way throughout the inevitable ups and downs of life.
4. Work on releasing perfectionism
This one is done through repeated practice. Start with something low stakes, like ditching the measuring spoons when trying a new recipe–eyeball it instead. Then maybe post the TikTok that isn’t the typical ~aesthetic~ because why would we all want to be the same anyways? Want to start a podcast but don’t have all the equipment? Don’t wait on everything to be perfect. Just start! Letting go of perfectionism is a daily practice but eventually, you won’t beat yourself up so much because you’re actually doing vs thinking or planning on doing, and you’ll see how that changes everything for the better.
5. Reframe negative self-talk
Pay attention to how you talk to yourself and how you talk about yourself. When you catch yourself being your own worst critic, do a reframe. Is there a more kind way for you to talk to yourself? Can you find another perspective about the situation that doesn’t involve brutally blaming yourself or devaluing yourself? Could there be more at play than what’s within your control? Reframing your negative self-talk requires self compassion and the more you build that muscle, the more you realize how worthy you’ve always been.
