Choosing yourself over everyone else can be pretty challenging when you are trained to do the exact opposite since birth. It takes time, but putting yourself at the forefront of your life without feeling guilty is something that can be learned. Here are some things that you can start today to prioritize yourself:
Make a Star
This is probably the most basic to do. You don’t even have to schedule tightly by minutes and seconds, start by just listing out what you need to get done and put a star next to the things with topmost priority. In this list make sure to include and star time for yourself. Once you have this list with stars, filling a calendar on your computer or phone takes about two more minutes. This way you not only stay organized and have a visual for what your day will look like, but you also have things that you have to do no matter what comes up. Make sure that YOU time is given just as much priority as you would any other meeting. It’s a meeting with yourself.
Say No
Today, when life happens at the click of a button, it is too easy to feel overwhelmed, out of time, out of funds, or like you are lacking in some aspect of your life. You may want to seem well-rounded, or dependable, or fun, so you never say no and take on all the responsibilities and say yes to every plan. You neglect your needs and that is what the problem is. You have to learn to say no. The sooner you learn that the better it is for your mental health.
You are your own Cheerleader
It’s funny how no one wants to hear no, everyone wants to tell you no (not the same as no stated above). Although it is important to have a good support system of friends, family, colleagues, people are not always reliable. And it is understandable, we want them to put themselves first too, just like we want you to. So that when things get tough, all you need is yourself because you have built yourself to handle it on your own. You have to be your own cheerleader. You are capable, and you can do ANYTHING you set your mind to.
Recharge
It really feels like if you blink you will miss out on a life-changing opportunity. Life just moves so fast. But if you are not at your 100% keeping your eyes open will do you no good. So just remember to take a break, rest your eyes. Do relaxing stretches, or yoga, or read a book for fun, when was the last time you did that? Or just eat and have fun, bike, run. The list of things you can do to recharge is endless, but what you can do to recharge on a daily basis is make sure that you hydrate yourself, get enough sleep, and meditate. You can also take some time to reflect on yourself, think back on your progress and growth, what you have accomplished, what new goals you have, and what you have to do next to move forward.
This is just a small list of what you can do today to change some bad patterns that you might have in your life. With some trial and error, you might find more things that help you in accepting yourself and loving yourself. We just want you to remember that achieving the best version of yourself takes a lot of time and thought. So think about who you want to be and make one step towards being that person every day.
