A holistic approach involves looking at all of you.
In my last blog, I discussed how simply cooking your own food is a giant act of self-care.
When I ask clients what they do to manage their stress, I usually get a blink, blink followed by a blank stare.
It’s not because my clients aren’t creative, resourceful and amazing humans. It’s because this stuff isn’t prioritized.
What I see day in and day out is that stress matters, actually stress trumps everything.
If that part of the puzzle isn’t being addressed, it can have a big impact on how well you achieve your goals.
We will never wipe stress out of our lives, but we can learn how to:
1) Notice it
then we can begin to
2) Manage it
Stress management doesn’t have to be an expensive vacation, gym membership or spa treatment (although it can totally be those things)
The secret is usually just about reconnecting to things you love. Still drawing a blank? Think about things you loved doing as a kid.
I remember a time in my life, not that long ago, when the thought of booking time off to do something for myself that was completely unproductive seemed absurd.
The older I get, the more I realize just how productive being unproductive is.
When I take the time to quiet the old hamster wheel and reconnect to a little gratitude (stop catastrophizing – keep it real) is when I’m the most productive.
When I started diving into this stuff I worried that I didn’t have any hobbies or know how to fill my proverbial cup.
It was only when I started thinking about stress management in terms of self care and joy that I discovered that I have tons hobbies and ways that I can self-soothe;
cooking,
entertaining,
connecting with my people,
walking,
being in nature,
meditating and mindfulness,
reading meaningful books (I call it my smart reading),
gardening (I suck at that one but refuse to give up),
renovating (that’s an expensive one),
home décor,
thrifting,
making my space beautiful
…
I recently noticed that, with a busier agenda, a lot of my loves were being ignored:
I was skipping my morning meditation in order to catch up on emails.
My smart reading book sat unopened for weeks.
I found myself always walking in the evening and in the dark because I stopped scheduling it in during my lunch break. Even worse, lunch was often used to catch up on social media messages.
Noticing was my cue to make some adjustments and review my priorities. Before life rearranged me.
Bottom line: You. Are. Responsible. For. You.
We’re all surrounded by crap and stuff that’s hard to deal with.
Ultimately, you choose what you say YES to and what you say NO to and how you will show up for yourself and the people that need you.
I hope you choose to prioritize yourself this week.
Kim
oxo
