Self-care has become the cool kid in recent years. Everywhere you look there is someone talking about the importance of self-care and soft-girl seasons. But what is self-care? And why is it so important, especially for women?
The goal of this post today is to help you explore the 8 areas of focus for self-care to find what works best for you. By understanding what you need to show up as your best self as a coach and entrepreneur you will be better able to identify areas that need improvement and make lasting changes to improve your wealth & well-being.
What is self-care?
In the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, it’s easy to neglect one of the most important aspects of our well-being: self-care. We often prioritize work, family, and various responsibilities, leaving little time or energy for ourselves. However, daily self-care is not a luxury; it’s a necessity for maintaining our physical, emotional, and mental health. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the transformative power of daily self-care and provide you with a step-by-step plan to incorporate it into your life.
Understanding Self-Care
Before we delve into the practical steps, let’s clarify what self-care truly means. Self-care is the intentional practice of taking time to nurture and attend to your own physical, emotional, and mental needs. It’s about prioritizing yourself without feeling guilty or selfish. In essence, self-care is a fundamental aspect of self-love and self-compassion.
Self-care is the intentional practice of pouring into yourself first so that you can show up as your best self for others. It’s about taking care of your physical, mental, or emotional health to create inner wealth, and can be anything from getting enough sleep and exercising to eating healthy foods and prioritizing “me” time.
Why is self-care important for female entrepreneurs?
Self-care is important because it helps you to stay healthy, manage stress, set boundaries, and focus on the things that bring you joy. When you don’t take care of yourself, it is easy to get burned out and become overwhelmed by the demands of business and life. This can lead to physical and mental health problems.
Self-care is not selfish. It is actually essential to your well-being. When you take care of yourself, you are better able to take care of others.
Self-care is more than just spa days and pedicures. And although those things can be part of any female entrepreneur’s self-care routine, they are not the only things that make up your self-care routine. Self-care is a lifestyle, a part of your wellness code and it encompasses every aspect of taking care of your self – body, mind, and spirit.
The 8 Areas of Self-Care Focus
Focus no. 1: Physical Self-Care
Physical self-care encompasses anything that cares for your body.
Examples include yoga, healthy snacking, running, dancing, walking, swimming, holistic supplements, and exercise, a bath, massage, facial, manicure or pedicure, skin care, and sleep habits.
Focus no. 2: Mental Self-Care
Mental self-care encompasses anything that stimulates your mind or helps it to relax.
Examples include growth mindset work, personal development, reading a book, listening to an audiobook, listening to a podcast, watching a documentary, journaling, visualization & playing a musical instrument.
Focus no. 3: Emotional Self-Care
Emotional self-care encompasses anything that helps you process your emotions.
Examples include journaling, meditation, naming your emotions, identifying things you want to “yes” to, and others you need to say “no” to, checking in with your therapist, writing a gratitude list, speaking affirmations.
Focus no. 4: Social Self-Care
Social self-care encompasses anything that helps you connect with others.
Examples include calling a friend or family member, going to brunch with the girls, having coffee with a colleague, sending a card or flowers to a friend, or going on a date with your significant other.
Focus no. 5: Spiritual Self-Care
Spiritual self-care encompasses anything that helps you connect with your deepest self & your higher power.
Examples include reading a spiritual text, prayers, meditation, engaging with your faith-based community, any kind of spiritual ritual or routine, & writing letters to people you need to forgive (even if you don’t send them).
Focus no. 6: Career Self-Care
Career self-care encompasses anything that helps you engage in meaningful, purposeful work.
Examples include reflecting on your career and where you want it to go, brainstorming ideas for a side hustle, growing something, building something, painting, crafting, cooking & identifying areas of burn out.
Focus no. 7: Financial Self-Care
Financial self-care encompasses anything that helps you manage your finances and assets responsibly.
Examples include declaring your money goals, determining your budget, reviewing your accounts including savings, retirement, and passive income streams, creating an investment & wealth growth plan.
Focus no. 8: Environmental Self-Care
Environmental self-care encompasses anything that helps you create harmony within your home and sacred spaces as well as your greater environment.
Examples include decorating your spaces, decluttering your office, cleaning and organizing rooms, being outside with nature, grounding, gardening, being eco-friendly.
Setting Self-Care Goals
In the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, it’s easy to neglect our well-being. We often prioritize work, family, and various responsibilities, leaving little time or energy for ourselves. However, daily self-care is not a luxury; it’s a necessity for maintaining our physical, emotional, and mental health.
There are a number of tools you can use to set self-care goals:
- Journal or Diary: Keeping a journal is a traditional yet effective tool for setting self-care goals. You can write down your goals, reflect on your progress, and document how different self-care activities make you feel. This helps with self-awareness and tracking your journey.
- Goal-Setting Apps: There are various goal-setting apps available, such as Todoist, Habitica, and HabitBull. These apps allow you to set, track, and schedule your self-care goals. Some even offer reminders and gamify the process to keep you motivated.
- Self-Care Planners: Specialized self-care planners or wellness planners are designed to help you set and achieve self-care goals. They often include prompts, trackers, and sections for self-reflection.
- Online Goal-Setting Platforms: Websites and platforms like Trello, Asana, and Evernote can be adapted for setting self-care goals. You can create boards or lists for your goals, and collaborate with others if needed.
- Self-Care and Wellness Apps: There are numerous apps dedicated to self-care and wellness, such as Calm, Headspace, and MyFitnessPal. These apps often include goal-setting features for meditation, exercise, and other self-care activities.
These tools can be tailored to your specific self-care goals and preferences, making it easier to establish and maintain a self-care routine. if you are not sure which of the 8 areas of self-care focus you should be focusing on, start with this Self-Care Wheel.
When going through this exercise you will want to think about the 8 self-care categories we just discussed and rate them from 1 – 10. The best way to do this is to color in each of the 8 categories by reflecting on your self-care habits as they are today and rate it honestly from 1 (lowest – unsatisfied) to 10 (highest – very satisfied).
To get your hands on the full 210 page WomanpreneuHER Self-Care Journal click here.
- Online Goal-Setting Platforms: Websites and platforms like Trello, Asana, and Evernote can be adapted for setting self-care goals. You can create boards or lists for your goals, and collaborate with others if needed.
- Self-Care and Wellness Apps: There are numerous apps dedicated to self-care and wellness, such as Calm, Headspace, and MyFitnessPal. These apps often include goal-setting features for meditation, exercise, and other self-care activities.
These tools can be tailored to your specific self-care goals and preferences, making it easier to establish and maintain a self-care routine. if you are not sure which of the 8 areas of self-care focus you should be focusing on, start with this Self-Care Wheel.
When going through this exercise you will want to think about the 8 self-care categories we just discussed and rate them from 1 – 10. The best way to do this is to color in each of the 8 categories by reflecting on your self-care habits as they are today and rate it honestly from 1 (lowest – unsatisfied) to 10 (highest – very satisfied).
Now that you know the power of self-care if you want to unlock the incredible potential of daily self-care through our step-by-step guide, make sure to download The Ultimate Self-Care Journal.
Prioritize your well-being starting today! Embrace routines that nourish your mind, body, and soul, and witness the profound transformation it brings to your life.
next steps ::
So here is your homework:
- Explore the 8 areas of self-care focus to determine where you want to focus your self-care journey.
- If you do not already have a self-care routine begin researching self-care ideas and ways you can integrate wellness into your daily habit. (I give you hundreds of self-care tips here)
- Commit to whatever self-care routine you create for yourself making changes when necessary.
- Share your self-care journey with your audience to show them the transformation and benefits of having a self-care routine.
- Lastly don’t forget to check out all of the self-care prompts and journal sheets inside of The Ultimate Self-Care Journal.
P.S. Need help with nurturing and growing a profitable community online? WomanpreneuHER University will teach you the most effective strategies to attract your ideal audience and them into hot leads. Best of all, the strategies I share will position you as an authority in your niche and prime your followers to buy from you.
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