Top 5 Benefits Of Self-Care
Self-Care Isn’t Selfish – It’s Necessary
Contrary to what you may have heard, self-care isn’t selfish. It’s necessary. When you’ve got commitments, responsibilities and obligations pulling at you from all angles, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you can’t afford the time or resources to care for yourself.
The fact of the matter is that you can’t afford not to.
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Here are five reasons why self-care should be at the very top of your list of priorities.
Top 5 Benefits Of Self-Care
1- Improves Your Self-Esteem
First, engaging in regular self-care practices improves your self-esteem, both in obvious – and not so obvious – ways.
On the surface, sure if you take time to care for your physical body by exercising, eating well, maintaining proper hygiene, and having a beauty regimen you’ll look and feel great on the outside. But caring for your mental and emotional health improves your self-esteem from the inside, too.
A quick example is with a problem that so many people have in common – putting others first.
If you tend to say “yes” to others a little more often than you’d like, sacrifice some of your own needs to make others happy, or riddle yourself with guilt for saying “no”, caring for your emotional health by slowing down, considering what it is you really want and need, and making authentic choices on how to spend your time and money would benefit you.
While it may not seem like it on the surface, people-pleasing is a huge sign of low self-worth. Why do you feel like your wants and needs aren’t valid or important?
Journaling your true feeling, taking time before accepting or denying requests from others, and blocking off personal time in your calendar are just a few examples of simple self-care activities that can help you boost your self-esteem from the inside out.
2- You Have More To Give To Others
Second, while you may assume taking time to care for yourself means less time and energy you can spend on others, the reverse is true.
If you happen to play a role in life where you care for others (for example a parent, work in healthcare or customer service, care for aging parents), it’s all too easy to spend all your time and energy attending to the needs of others.
But what about you?
Who takes care of you and makes sure that you are okay?
Have you ever heard that saying “you can’t pour from an empty cup”?
Chances are that nobody cares for you the way you care for others, so your cup is probably running low. You’ll have to care for yourself or risk total and complete burnout – at which point you’re no good for anyone.
Prioritizing your personal wellbeing is good for everyone. You’ll have so much more to give if you put yourself first at least some of the time.
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3- Increased Productivity
Third, one of the most important self-care practices you can get started on right away is making sure you get enough sleep. The average adult requires 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night. Running on less than this has potential adverse effects that you may not have considered, such as weight gain, inflammation and poor mental health.
But, one of the strongest benefits of getting enough rest is a boost in concentration and productivity.
Imagine having a high-pressure meeting or presentation at work, or an important exam to take at school. Do you think you’d perform better if you stay up all night drinking coffee and cramming, or after a good night of rest?
The answer is obvious.
If you think you can’t get more sleep because your life is just too hectic and busy, start small! Start by setting a strict cutoff for when you’ll turn off your phone or laptop and go to bed. Then, try going to bed just ten minutes earlier for a while. Even if you don’t fall asleep right away, you’ll be training your body and mind to get into sleep mode.
Once you get used to that, you can slowly add more time. It really works!
4- Get To Know Yourself Better
We humans are constantly changing, evolving and growing. And if you’re reading this right now, chances are personal growth is high on your list of priorities. So, it’s important to you.
Well, if you don’t regularly spend quality time with yourself, evaluating different aspects of your life, setting goals, tracking progress, and examining yourself, how do you stay familiar with who you are once you’ve changed?
Unless you intentionally work on this, you don’t.
It’s not possible to outgrow the perception you have of yourself unless you establish a self-care practice that supports self-understanding.
Some ideas for self-care that will help you explore who you are include journaling (specifically reviewing old journal entries to compare your progress over time), meditation, and pursuing hobbies that involve creativity (making art, writing literature, playing instruments).
5- Healthy Management Of Emotions
Someone who doesn’t have a strong self-care regimen is highly likely to crumble under stress, anger or disappointment. This doesn’t have to be you.
Even the luckiest people on the planet have bad days. We lose loved ones, suffer broken hearts, don’t achieve goals we set out to conquer…
Without a solid self-care toolbox, it’s so easy to turn to unhealthy habits such as drinking to excess, seeking comfort by overindulging in food or shopping, or even becoming avoidant – neglecting our responsibilities completely. These only make bad situations even worse.
When you have great coping mechanisms for when you’re sad, angry, stressed or hurt, you’re able to deal with negative events in much healthier ways.
You’ll still feel the negative emotions – mind you – but you’ll be able to manage them. And that makes a world of difference in your overall life experience.
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Final Thoughts
While it may seem on the surface that you don’t have time or money to prioritize your personal wellbeing, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Self-care doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming. In fact, you can find subtle ways to integrate it into your daily life so that you can experience all the peace, positivity and progress you deserve.
These are just some of the things that we cover when we work together in my 12 week Love the Life You Live NOW coaching program.