Especially These Days, Take Time for Self-Care

As business leaders, parents and just big-hearted humans in general, we sometimes focus so much on the well-being of those around us that we begin to neglect our own physical and emotional health.

In this way, one of our natural strengths (caring for others) can easily turn into a weakness (not taking time for ourselves) if we aren’t careful. You can’t pour from an empty cup!

I once heard it said that even ambulances must be taken out of service for maintenance—otherwise, they’ll break down and can’t help anyone.

If you feel like that metaphorical ambulance these days, it’s OK. We are navigating the world’s biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression, after all. There’s no roadmap for coming through this pandemic in one piece, but we are learning as we go, myself included.

Here are some bite-size nuggets that have helped me along the way, especially these past few months, in both a personal and professional capacity:

Tune out from time to time. I am taking a break from watching, reading or listening to news stories, including social media. Hearing about the pandemic repeatedly isn’t great for me. I’m focused on providing myself one update per day. 

Take care of your body. I’m focused on taking deep breaths, stretching and meditating. I’m also working hard to eat healthy, well-balanced meals, exercise regularly and get plenty of sleep.

Make time to unwind. I’m doing other activities I enjoy like reading and walking in order to carve out time to push work aside.

Connect with others. I’m staying connected with close friends through FaceTime and Zoom. Talking and seeing people I trust really helps. It’s safe to share my concerns and how I am feeling.

Demonstrate empathy. I have really been focused on acknowledging employees’ and family members’ pain. I’m being transparent with how I feel and doing my best to be encouraging and supportive. 

Beware of your own negative self-talk. “I can’t do this much longer. I can’t work at home. I’m frustrated with myself.” I can’t really stop my negative self-talk, but I can quickly give myself positive messages like, “I can do this one day at a time. I can figure out the best way to work from home. I’m doing the best I can.” 

What’s my mindset right now? I’ve worked hard over the last year or so to develop a growth mindset instead of a fixed mindset. My growth mindset reminds me that I’m still learning, I can always improve, I can ask for help, I can embrace challenges and I can change. 

Cultivate curiosity. I figure now is the perfect time to accomplish things in new and different ways. I’m being curious. This shows up in my life around cooking. I’m trying a lot of new recipes. While not all of them turn out great, there are some that work their way into our “quarantine rotation.” 

Remember, we are in this together. We will succeed together. Lean on each other, be there for each other and listen to each other. 

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Closing Thought

Don’t get down on yourself if you can’t (or just plain don’t want to) check all the boxes listed above. That’s perfectly fine. Instead, try to incorporate just one thing into your daily routine or mindset.

And if you’re up for it, I’d be delighted if you left a comment letting me know which part of today’s article resonates most with you!