Making Self-Care a Priority

“Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.” -- Etty Hillesum 

As entrepreneurs, people face the challenge of their lives to achieve goals. Self-motivated business leaders never stop short of efforts to accomplish what they want in their lives. In a way, it is mostly about living a number of lives at the same time since an entrepreneur has to don a number of hats at the same time. From conceiving a business idea to execute it to looking after the marketing and earning profits to look after social media promotion -- the demand is endless and to be successful, one needs to carry out each of those responsibilities flawlessly.  

While carrying out these responsibilities as entrepreneurs, we often feel that putting self after everything else is the right way to approach things. We think it is selfish if we put ourselves at the top of our priority list and readily address others and their issues related to our business. This very thinking is flawed. As an entrepreneur, you need to look after yourself before anybody else because it is you who matters the most. If you are not looking after your own well-being and allow yourself to reach the point of exhaustion too soon, then eventually your entire team and venture lose out. Be it your co-workers, friends or even family members -- none of them are more important than yourself as the leader and therefore, making self-care your priority is key for your success.  

By making self-care a priority, we do not mean just spending hours at the gym or having eight hours of sleep or occasional family breaks on weekends. It means a complete care of your overall well-being. The lack of solid self-care can often make you fatigued and irritable and it will not be too late before people start noticing something wrong in you. It is always wise to not allow things to get to such a level from where making a comeback to normalcy becomes too difficult. It would not only leave yourself with an additional burden to take care of your health amid all the professional business but also divide your time and effort. Why not make self-care a priority from the word go so that your health remains fine as you race towards your professional success?  

How do you care about yourself before anything else? It is easier said than done but a small adjustment in your daily lifestyle could make that happen -- leaving yourself with more energy and intent on the professional front. Here are five ways to make self-care a priority which will keep away challenges that could otherwise hurt your progress towards the peak: 

Are you taking care of what you need in a particular moment? 

Self-care can differ individually. For some, relaxing alone is the best way of self-care. For somebody else, sweating out at the gym is the definition of self-care. Sitting alone and reflecting or drinking hot chocolate can be other ways of self-care. Whatever it is, self-care needs to be something that your mind is wanting to do at a particular moment and you allow it to re-energize itself by indulging in that activity. There is really nothing wrong if you pamper yourself at times amid all the hectic schedule.  

You have the time for self-relaxation: 

Business leaders often say that they do not have the time for themselves. This is not true. If you are feeling that you don’t have time, you need to come up with the snowball approach. That means, you need to start from scratch and can add to that time break in small amounts to make a sizable ‘me-time’ space for yourself. That space will be your breathing space amid the daily hectic schedule, giving you the opportunity to regather yourself to come back stronger. For example, you can start with a two-minute walk and then add to it to make it 15 minutes a day. It will be a perfect way to make self-care a priority.    

Don’t plan an escape, plan self-care: 

There are many people who think going on a long weekend break or vacation after a long stint at work allows them to indulge in self-care. It is not bad to have such a plan but it might not be ideal always. A geographical retreat when we are really exhausted does not make self-care. You can even take care of yourself daily after your long work schedule ends. Planning something relaxing after work or retiring to bed early can also help us recharge our batteries by staying well within the confines of our homes.  

Plan to bring a positive change in others’ lives: 

If you really want to boost yourself amid the professional pressure and challenges, plan something humanitarian. Try to bring a positive change in the life of at least one person (outside your work life of course). Feed homeless kids or sponsor their education or if possible, adopt an orphan. This will give your mind a tremendous feeling of satisfaction and fulfilment which in turn will boost its energy and capacity. Such action makes you more compassionate towards yourself, makes you love and thank yourself more -- things that go a long way to make yourself stronger while in the pursuit of achieving big goals in life.   

Draw inspiration from your self-care benefits: 

Let’s not make our self-care efforts only to show off to others. It is also very important to own their true benefits so that you not only make gain for yourself but also set up an example before others on how to take complete self-care. By taking self-care, you become more sympathetic towards people besides witnessing your own capacity improve. When you feel good yourself, your overall work performance improves -- including dealing with other people. When you start listening to people and respond, you get to know that your mind is in a good capacity to work. That is what self-care is all about: enhancement of one’s capability of production.