12 Steps To Self Care: Make Your Day Feel Special

Do you ever feel like you need a break? If you feel run down and don’t know where to start, these 12 steps to self care can help you to deal with the overwhelming demands of your job, family, friends and your everyday life in general.

There are many ways you to take care of yourself. A good place to start is to take small steps. 

Whatever your day-to-day life dictates you have to make sure that you keep your mental and physical exhaustion in check.

Implementing any or some or all of these12 steps to self care can help you to slow down and reduce stress. It also helps to reset your brain and gives you a chance to devote some time to reflection and self-discovery.

1. Be You – Keep It Real

It’s no use trying to be somebody else, it’s not going to work. Social media is all the hype these days and it does have its place but it can leave our brains twisted.  Don’t depend on anyone to make you feel good about yourself.

When you get caught up in copying other people, trying to be like them, and to live their type of life which is totally different from the person you are, you have to check yourself.

 Don’t try to be like somebody else. The moment you realize you start doing that sort of thing, draw the line and call it quits.

You were designed with your own flavor and style. Don’t get caught up in fakeness but simply be the best you and it’ll make all the difference in the world. And, that’s something you can’t put a price tag on.

You probably think that your life would be better if you make certain changes to yourself. You’re unique there’s only one you, so be you and keep it real. Grab ahold of yourself and see all your flaws from a positive perspective.

In order for you to live a meaningful, happier life you have to be your own authentic self. As the saying goes, ‘be you everybody else is taken’.

Don’t try to make changes because others want you to. Make changes in your life if you see it necessary and that will elevate you.

2. Value Yourself

You should be your number one priority. You deserve to be cared for in the best possible way and the right person to do that is you.  What you think about yourself, in all honesty, affects how you treat yourself.

You have a right to be happy, don’t you think?

Here’s the thing, you might not recognise that your self-worth affects how you make upgrades, growth, and advancement in your life. 

If you want to live a healthy lifestyle, want to achieve wealth and to be happy you have to actually believe that you deserve it in order for you to work towards accomplishing them.

When you really genuinely value yourself , you’ll understand how to take care of yourself and respect and celebrate your health success and wellness.

 The important thing is to learn from your mistakes and never use them as a benchmark for assessing your self-worth. Hold yourself in high regard and honor yourself, there’s greatness within you.

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3. Get Quality Sleep

Another essential step to self care is getting enough sleep. Quality sleeps is crucial to your health and wellness because it leaves your mind and body recharged and all powered up.

This gives you the energy, drive and stamina you need to be more alert and ready to take on the day.

As a matter of fact, the same way you need food to nourish your body, it’s the same way sleep is necessary for your body and brain to function properly.

In some instances, lack of sleep is even connected to weight gain and increased inflammation in your body. Whatever you do make sure you get ample rest.

Here are some ways to helps you get better sleep:

• Try as much as possible to have a set time to go to sleep at night.
• Steer clear of alcohol and caffeine late in the afternoon.
• Get workouts on a regular basis and try not to do this 3 hours before sleep time.
• Don’t eat anything heavy late in the evening or too close to your sleep time.
• Get off your devices at least one hour before bed.
• Make your bedroom a sleep oasis.
• If you’re having difficulty falling asleep, do something relaxing like reading a book or listening to calming music.

Related article: Practical ways to get better sleep that actually works

4. Don’t Stress About Things Out Of Your Control

There are so many things that will happen in your life and some of them you just can’t control.

The thing is, it’s totally useless when you worry about things that are out of your control. No matter what it is, it could be the affairs of the country or the weather which is out of your control, sometimes you might find it difficult to feel good about anything.

If it turns out that you’re worrying about things that are out of your hands just take a step back and identify what you have control over.  For instance, you can’t prevent  a flood or a hurricane from coming to the area you reside but you can certainly put things in place to prepare for it. 

It’s fear that sometimes feeds these stressors because you might question whether or not you’ll be able to handle the situation if the worst should happen.

If you find that your stress levels are high, notice how you face and handle your concerns.  Use a healthy response strategy to address these situations such as affirmations mantras, mediation or prayer.

Related article: Affirmations for self care
 

5. Positive Mindset

A positive attitude is truly everything. When you’re not feeling good about life or just barely making it through your day, it’s so hard to be positive when you’re absolutely drained and feeling like it’s more than you can handle.

 The thing is, life is always changing. One day might be perfect and the following day all hell break loose and everything is falling apart. Sometimes you might even find it impossible to have a good feeling about anything at all.

The solution rests within the way you think and your self-talk.  When you think positively you’ll discover that your whole perspective changes. You have to start to cultivate a habit of positive thinking.

Instead of saying or thinking negative things change how you say things when they come to mind.  For instance, instead of thinking that life is tough think of it as life is full of interesting challenges.

Although it might seem unnatural in the beginning the more you practice to express differently how you feel the easier you’ll get to a more positive mindset.

6. Chase Your Ambitions-Make It Happen

All of us have goals that we would love to succeed at.  But you’re bound to encounter challenges and somewhere along the way these aspirations could fall through the cracks.

When you pursue your dreams you’ll build boldness, fearlessness, true grit, and determination. Even though the path might be different for everyone, working at making it happen helps you to have something in life to look forward to.

And once they’re actualized you’ll be able to make a contribution to your community, give hope to others and you’ll feel more fulfilled and live a more meaningful life.

If you don’t chase your dreams it will weigh heavy on your mind leaving you with disappointment and regrets of what could have been.

7. Me Time

Me time is making a deliberate effort to take a step back from the pressures of life and devoting some time to yourself and you alone. It’s a chance for you to slow down, let your hair down and recharge your mind body and soul.

Our body speaks to us.  For instance, if your feet have been doing a lot of walking on a particular day or you’ve done too much standing, they’re going to speak to you through indications of aches and pains or being swollen.

And, that’s the way it is for every part of the body. In order for you to perform at your best in every area of your life, you have to take time to recharge. 

When you make time for yourself, you can take on different because it all depends on what your body needs. Reconnect with yourself so your body and mind can reset.

Here are few ways you can recharge and reset:

• Unplug from all your electronics for a specified period of time.
• Be creative- paint, draw or grab a coloring book and do some coloring.
• Watch a movie – at home or the cinema.
• Take yourself on a date- lunch or dinner date or just for coffee.
• Have a spa day.
• Start a hobby.
• Take a hot bath.
• Read a book.
• Have a cup of tea.
• Listen to your favorite tunes.
• Take a walk

8. Set Boundaries

Setting boundaries and adhering to them is a major part of self-care. In that respect, it helps you to let others know what you’ll put up with and how you want to be treated.

When you decide to set boundaries it isn’t always easy and people may test your limits or push the envelope if you turn them down or refuse their requests.

It’s important that you set boundaries or you’ll feel overburdened, unappreciated, harassed and at times disrespected.

Sometimes it can be hard to set boundaries with family and friends because you don’t want to say no.

But if you don’t set boundaries in your relationships or on your job it can bring on misunderstanding, hostility bitterness, distress, suffering, worrying, hurt, overwhelm, exhaustion and stress.

When you set boundaries they help to take care of you by giving you the green light to flat out turn down anything that doesn’t serve you. The things that don’t help you but instead can do more harm than good to your body and mind.

That’s not cool and is totally unacceptable. You’ll need to make it abundantly clear and point out what your boundaries are and firmly stand your ground.

Related article: What are personal boundaries and why we need them

9. Declutter

It’s always been said that if you have a cluttered house then your mind is also cluttered. You might be holding on to things you’ve not used for years but you think that you’ll use them sometime in the future. Get rid of them.

Decluttering your life begins with decluttering your mind.  It helps to provide mental clarity and reduces stress. When you get rid of the mess both physically and mentally.it keeps you more organized and leaves you more energetic, efficient and effective.

The fact of the matter is if it feels good to declutter your house, it feels even better to declutter your mind. A cluttered mind is constantly thinking about what took place in the past and worrying about what’s going to happen in the future.

It’s going over your checklist in your head as to what you have to do and what you haven’t done enough of and that there’s too much for you to do. Doing this is completely pointless and draining.

Here are some useful tips to clear out the clutter in your life.

• Clean up your space – it will help you to refocus and prevents burnout. 
• Make a list- gives you an overview of the things you have to do and help you to prioritize. 
• Journaling – you can do a brain dump of things that are bothering you and provides an avenue to helps you to work through them. 
• Stop multi-tasking -When you try to do too many things at one time it can leave you feeling like you’re snowed under and opens the door for mistakes. 
• Let it go – Let go of past hurts, regrets, missed opportunities. This is all useless and saps your energy. 
  

10. Healthy Eating And Exercise

I know you’re well aware that eating healthy foods and exercise should be a staple in your life on the daily. Truth is, it affects practically every area of your body and your overall health and wellness.

It’s super important that you pull out all the stops to eat healthy meals and snacks.

You also need to do some form of exercise everyday or at least three to five days per week. I know it might not be an easy thing to do because you just want to get home and relax.

But challenge yourself that’s what your body needs. A simple way to start is by walking and aim for at least three days per week. Then when you’re consistent with that raise the stakes.

You could add some bodyweight exercises or r if you need extra help or accountability you can opt for a gym membership.

If your daily to-do list is full to capacity that you’re unable to fit anything else in, might not be able to go to the gym but you can start an exercise routine at home. How convenient is that?

It gives you the means to handle or cope with all the madness of your daily routine and at the same time helping you to maintain a fit and healthy body.

A strong  exercise and healthy eating plan can:

•  Strengthens your heart health. 
• Help with your weight control.
• Improves your physique. 
• Increase your energy.
• help with focus and concentration.

11. Be Grateful

There are plenty of mental and physical benefits of practicing gratitude. Getting in the habit of being grateful helps you to have a clearer perspective on life.

Giving thanks is something that’s easy to do and once you start, you’ll quickly realise the rewards it brings. It can help you to have a satisfying, meaningful and optimistic life.

A good place to start is by making an effort to be grateful for at least one thing or one person at the start of your day. This will set the stage for the rest of your day.

Look around and within, sit up and take notice and put the spotlight on gratitude, and release some stress.

A few of the benefits of being grateful are:

• Lowers blood pressure.
• Reduces anxiety.
• Reduces stress.
• Improves your emotional well-being.
• better sleep.
• build strength so its easier to face adverse situations.
• Helps you to have confidence in yourself.

Related article: Gratitude is a Must

12. Empower Yourself

Empowering yourself is one of the best gifts that you can give to yourself and should take priority.  It involves investing time, hard work, and money in yourself for your own personal growth and development. 

Take charge of your life and make an investment in yourself. Before long it will improve your standard of living and the level of well-being you experience now, as well as in the long term. 

When you empower yourself it helps to build a solid and sound footing that you can expand and improve on during your lifetime. And will affect your ability to grow, succeed and live a happy meaningful life.

Conclusion On The 12 Steps To Self Care

When you are trying to practice self care, you’re going to run into some challenges along the way. These can really derail your progress if you aren’t prepared.

But, if you want to be the best version of yourself it’s important that you recognise that changes have to be made. These 12 steps to self care will give you the push you need to start that journey.

Come up with a plan to fit your needs and put in the effort so you can feel alive again. The rewards? Priceless.

Which of these self care steps do you use? Comment below!