Why Is Self-Care so Important?

Why is Self-Care so Important?

Because without it we can become burned out, short-tempered and lazy.  Without proper self-care we lose our zest for living.  When we never focus on ourselves, we aren’t a good example for our children of what life could and should be – especially if we have girls.  We need to teach our girls that our needs matter too.

Self-care is partly about believing you are worth it and partly about being an insurance policy against burn out in the future.  The more irons you currently have in the fire, the more you NEED self-care and to pay attention to the overall picture.

Let’s revisit the definition of self-care according to Oxford Dictionary:

Self-care = The practice of taking action to preserve or improve one’s own health.  The practice of taking an active role in protecting one’s own well-being and happiness, in particular during periods of stress.

In other words, we need to pay attention to our own needs too.  And, we need to do it in a variety of different areas by being a champion of our “own well-being and happiness”.

That Elusive Thing Called Balance

If self-care is so important, how do I make sure I am focusing on it at least some of the time?  You need to pay attention and inventory regularly (monthly/quarterly) how you are doing in the following areas:

• Physical Environment (Home Life)
• Career (Work)
• Family and Friends
• Significant Other/Romance
• Personal Growth (Self)
• Money
• Physical Health
• Fun and Recreation

Charting where you are on the “Wheel of Life” as the image is described above, you need to check in with yourself in each area and plot your current “health” overall.  You score each area on a 1 to 10 basis, with 1 being not great and 10 being the best.  The closer you are to the center, the worse off you are.  And, you don’t want one area of your life to be a 10 and the other a 1.  You want to try to keep the overall wheel as balanced as possible.  The more whole your wheel is, the more balanced you will feel as a result and know that not one part is out of whack.

How Does All of This Relate to Self-Care?

This relates to self-care because you need all of these elements to register on the scale to feel whole as a person.  If you focus solely on money or career, your other areas will take the hit and you will notice.  Likewise, if you spent all of your time on your family and never any time on yourself, you would start to feel resentful.  The lesson is to try to devote some time working on all areas over the course of a month or a quarter.

If you would like to learn more from Loveselfcare about how these areas can score higher, please see the following:

• Physical Environment (Home Life) – Pinterest – Relax at Home boards or Make Life Easier Series
• Career (Work) – Pinterest – Work/Life Balance
• Family and Friends – Pinterest – Love and Relationships
• Significant Other/Romance – Pinterest – Love and Relationships
• Personal Growth (Self) – all of Loveselfcare – but mainly the Hope and Resources Category
• Money – Resources and Pinterest – Financial
• Physical Health – Pinterest – Health
• Fun and Recreation – Fun and Pinterest – Fun

Where it says Pinterest those are all boards on Loveselfcare that have been curated over time to find articles to help in these areas.  There is lots of information on these subjects to be found there.

Now you know why self-care is so important.  Paying attention to all of the areas of your life is critical to maintaining your overall well-being.  Would you like to fill out your own circle?  If so, please click here for your free printable of the LSC Wheel of Life Worksheet.  It is always a good idea to check in with yourself and see where you currently are and plan for where you would like to be.

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Please let me know your thoughts on this subject below.  I’m always interested to hear what works best for you!