Within the past few years, the term self-care has become a popular buzzword. Within conversations, it wasn’t uncommon to hear someone say that they’re doing something as a way to prioritize their own self-care. Whether it was a pedicure or the end of a relationship, self-care became the main talking point. At its core, self-care can be defined as a habit or a practice that an individual makes when they prioritize their own well-being, protection, and peace. While pedicures and massages are often viewed as being synonymous with self-care, that’s not the full picture. Consider the main ways self-care is exercised and prioritized within the scope of an individual’s life.
Mental
One of the best ways to prioritize self-care is by maintaining a regimen surrounding your mental health. Therapy is an incredibly invaluable tool that more people need to take advantage of in order to gain clarity, peace, and stability. So much happens within childhood that shapes an individual’s life. If they can get to the core of why they are the way they are, they can develop a clearer path to move in ways that honor who they want to be and the goals they would like to accomplish. Oftentimes, people underestimate how powerful food and rest can be for a person’s mental health. By making sure that you’re putting the right fuel in your body and getting adequate rest each night, you’ll be able to think clearly and make more mentally sound decisions.
Physical
In addition to making sure that you’re eating whole foods and getting enough rest, the maintenance of your physical body can directly reflect your level of self-care. You can always tell when someone prioritizes certain elements of their physical being because those features usually stand out. Whether a person is intentional about getting their manicures and pedicures, massages and body treatments, or personal training sessions at the gym, this is clear when you lay eyes on a person. You don’t need to have a large budget in order to prioritize physical self-care. Physical self-care can also equate to how you take care of your body through moisturizers, exfoliation treatments, and hair maintenance. If you’d like to always be royal, invest in products that can effectively help you achieve the goals you have for your body.
Financial
Though it might seem like one of the least obvious factors to consider, a person’s financial wellbeing is an incredibly important part of their level of self-care. If you’re living in poverty or in a position where there’s never enough, this state will cause issues that impact your entire life. Self-care involves making sure you have a good credit score, financial margin, multiple income streams, and financial wholeness. When you’re not financially prepared for it, splurging is irresponsible. By not budgeting and planning for the future, you’re engaging in a high level of self-sabotage instead of self-care.
Vocational
If you’re not careful, your place of employment can serve as a major source of contention and stress. There are many ways to prioritize self-care as it relates to your job. You can start by making sure there are clearly defined boundaries between your work life and the other parts of your life. It is very unhealthy to be a work-a-holic. Even though the grind culture encourages non-stop work, find ways to work smarter and not harder. Plus, as it relates to your job, you are always replaceable. If your boss chooses to fire you in the morning, they’ll place your job on job boards by the afternoon. This doesn’t mean you can’t be loyal to a company. It just means that you need to keep your expectations, options, and income streams plentiful. There’s much more joy in maintaining work you get to do each versus desperately clinging to a low-paying job in a deeply toxic environment because you don’t have any other options.
Stress is known to be a silent killer. Unfortunately, stressors arise every single day. The key to stress management involves knowing how to complete the stress cycle. Completing the stress cycle can involve anything from exercise to a 20-second hug from a person you love. Completing the stress cycle is a direct form of self-care. As you work to raise your level of self-care, know that it’s much more than a buzzword. It’s actually a multi-faceted lifestyle approach. By prioritizing your self-care, you’ll simultaneously elevate your quality of life.
