With the start of the new year, I’ve been thinking about the connection between purpose and self care a lot. Perhaps it’s because I’ve been in a mode of work-work-work-work-work 🎶 lately and the first thing I’m tempted to let go is self care … 😬
The concept of self care wasn’t something I started to value until my late 20’s when I really started to question the reason for my “hustling” mentality. At that point in my life, I had gone through several iterations setting goals and achieving them only to be faced each time with the evitable feeling of emptiness that existed.
Yet again, I found myself facing the inevitable question of: “what is the purpose of any of this?” 🤔 And had to face (yet again) the likely reality that the true answers lay inward. Instead of throwing my time and energy behind another hustle, I dedicated it to a period of inward reflection and self-care habits that helped me bring more self connection and purpose into my day-to-day life.
Habits & products that bring self care into my life today:
💌 Checking in with myself on a mental, emotional and physical level. For me, my day just isn’t the same without meditation, journaling, and movement / exercise. All three help me to bring forth a sense of self connection on all the dimensions – physically, emotionally and mentally – and gives me a fighting chance to show up as my whole self.
💎 Product Rec: I’m currently using the Peloton app for both meditation as well as HIIT and strength exercises. And yes, just the app, sans 🚴🏼♀️.
🎯 Identifying and prioritizing tasks that are authentic to where I’m at. After I journal, my favorite thing to do before I start my day is to write out my top 3 to-do items in order of priority to accomplish before the end of the day. I find that setting goals after a period of self-reflection via journaling helps me to set more realistic goals that are attuned to what I actually want to achieve vs. performing to meet others expectations.
💎 Product Rec: My tried and true tools of choice are a pen 🖊️ and moleskine notebook 📓 (I recommend this expanded edition to get the most bang for your buck).
🌱 Expressing myself (ie. needs and feelings) through healthy verbal communication. Admittedly, this one is what I struggle with the most out of the three, especially when it comes to sharing how I feel about things I don’t like or am upset by. I’ve found setting expectations, boundaries and expressing feelings are core to self expression and allow me to feel more connected with other people (and myself) when I’m able to effectively communicate them to others.
💎 Product rec: I’m currently reading ‘Set Boundaries, Find Peace’ 📚, and highly recommend it as a practical guide on how to communicate your boundaries.
I’m constantly reminded that self care requires daily maintenance – priorities change, growth occurs and the systems in our previous life might not always serve our current life stage – the most important thing is to stay attuned to these changes, adjust when needed and continue moving forward.
With gratitude ❤️,
Nicole
