Your kids need you, your spouse needs you, your job needs you, etc. The list of people and situations that need our attention can be overwhelming at times. When I have so many things vying for my attention it can be hard to decide what is important; everything seems urgent. I remind myself to breath and remember that what is urgent is not necessarily what is important.
I know for sure that I perform at my best when I know what my self-care priorities are and act on them. I am talking about the two or three top things that I need to do or my day is not likely to flow smoothly. Without these I may react (read over-react) instead of respond calmly.
My self-care priorities are, 1) sleep 2) MELT® 3) nutrition. Exercise and meditation vie for the 4 and 5 spots. Everyone is busy these days performing lots of tasks, but I believe the notion that we are too busy for self-care is an illusion created by misplaced priorities.
Take a few minutes today to reflect on what your top 3-4 self-care routines are that actually assist you in performing at your best. To apply these self-care techniques regularly you have to start noticing when you are NOT behaving and responding the way you would like to. Stop, breath and remind yourself of what your top self-care priorities are and do them ASAP. Once these self-care priorities are honored you can bring your best self to each situation/person because your “gas tank” is full.
My husband and I had an opportunity to visit friends in Zihuatanejo, MX last week and I brought my MELT roller on the plane (it fits perfectly in the overhead bin). Traveling can disrupt our routines but it doesn’t have to. I never missed a day of MELT® and I made sure to get to bed at, or close to, my regular time so that I could be my best self.