How can self-care practices improve your problem-solving skills?

Self care is an act of self leadership, it is a decision you make for yourself and for your own wellbeing. It is putting yourself and your needs first, in order to be able to show up as your best self. This is not selfish but vital. Feeling good and being able to manage stress effectively can make you indeed a better problem solver in my opinion. Why? Because you have the ease and time to access all of your creative power and resources to come up with a wider set of possible solutions and it allows you to formulate a response rather than being in the stress-filled reactive mode. Curious what you think….

Self care is the starting point for a life of vitality. You can never sustainably take care of others (think family, community, workplace) unless you also take care of yourself. Taking good care of yourself sounds obvious but is not always easy, while rarely urgent it is extremely important. Similarly you can never truly love others unless you also love yourself. Not in an egotistical narcissistic way but in a way that values your need to take good care of your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing. Actions do speak louder than words. It’s all about starting, with small steps that create significant long term impact, optimising your wellbeing and vitality, everyday lived experience and life with vitality.

A brain that is well fueled and hydrated, A brain that is well rested, A brain that experiences the benefits of regular exercise (aerobic and strength) through positivity neurochemicals A brain that is connected with people that encourage support and appropriately challenged A brain that is open to A brain that is exposed to health enhancing environments such as found in nature and appreciation of art. These are just some of the ideas and ways that support and make creativity more possible.

I found through sports, self-care nurtures your physical and mental well-being. Which in turn enhances your problem-solving abilities by promoting clear thinking, reducing stress, and fostering creativity and resilience. Better Decision-Making: Proper sleeping habits and a balanced nutrition, can sharpen your decision-making skills, leading to more effective problem-solving outcomes. Increased Energy: Taking care of your physical health through exercise and a balanced diet can provide you with the energy needed to tackle problems more effectively. Sense of Reflection: Self-care often involves periods of reflection, which can help you gain a different insight into problems and develop strategic solutions. Go for the walk or cycle..

Feeling good and being able to manage stress effectively can make you indeed a better problem solver in my opinion. Why? Because you have the ease and time to access all of your creative power and resources to come up with a wider set of possible solutions and it allows you to formulate a response rather than being in the stress-filled reactive mode. Curious what you think….

There is no right or wrong when it comes to self care in my view, whatever makes you feel good and taps into your joy is worth making a practice out of. Feeling good is the essence.

For me it begins with Noticing, being Open to Engaging with whatever you become aware of through that process of Noticing and then making a deliberate effort to Accept and Act in response to whatever is arising. A great way to create space to facilitate improved Noticing is developing the discipline of proactively creating "quiet spaces" in our busy days. Dedicate a minute or two to begin with. Experience what it feels like to Stop, Befriend the Silence of that moment and Create space to REALLY notice and check-in with what is going on. This simple process, can open the door to creating improved clarity which, for me, is a crucial fuel in effective problem solving. Try it. :)

We sometimes, or even often, forget to take time to appreciate the Information and Insights that are being Streamed to us from our Inside Out. It is my experience that I had become so fixated and reliant on external sources of information in our busy "outwardly focused" world that I completely lost connection to that powerful "Internal" stream of information that was alerting me to attend to something important. The more our attention is drawn more externally, the less attention we have available to even be aware of the value of Information being constantly Streamed from within. A key component of self-Care is taking deliberate steps to shift some of our attention back towards the most natural and invaluable source of Information off all.