Many people struggle to take care of themselves. The reasons may from them not having time to do so, or because they don’t love themselves. Some are too busy taking care of others, that they simply forget to take care of themselves. Nonetheless, it is highly important to take care of yourself. This requires self-motivation and self-care, which are challenging. This article discusses how to motivate yourself to take care of yourself.
There are some reasons why you should want to take care of yourself. For one, if you are well taken care of, you will be able to care for others properly. You will also live a healthy life, and be in a better frame of mind.
But in today’s busy world full of strenuous jobs, demanding family obligations, and other pressing issues it can be difficult to take care of yourself. However, what you need is motivation. With the right motivation, you can make a conscious effort to care for yourself better.
How to Motivate Yourself to Take Care of Yourself
No matter what your reasons are for not taking care of yourself, all you need is stronger reasons to care for yourself. Here are some things to do to motivate yourself to take care of yourself.
Give yourself a strong reason to change
The first thing to do is to determine why you need to change your behavior. You need to ask yourself why you need to care for yourself and how it can benefit you personally. Will you have a better frame of mind? Will you have a better relationship with others? Will your physical health improve? Once you determine the reason that you need to care for yourself, it will serve as your motivation.
Write down good things about yourself
The truth is we all would be more inclined to take better care of ourselves if we acknowledged the things we are good at. So, write down the good things about yourself, and appreciate yourself. This will help you realize that you should devote more time to self-care.
Create a plan
Create a well-established plan, and schedule that will help you to focus on what you need to do. Taking care of yourself can include simple things like sleeping eight hours at night, brushing twice a day, or getting a massage monthly. However, you need to create a plan of things to do, and a schedule to follow.
If you need to exercise daily or go on diet to care for your health, creating a plan will help motivate you.
Enlist the help of others
Another way to motivate yourself to care for yourself is by getting support from others. You can begin by informing them that you want to care for yourself. Reason with them to see that you need to take care of yourself so you can be better for them. You might be surprised that they would want to help you and their support can be a huge motivating factor.
“How we care for ourselves gives our brain messages that shape our self-worth so we must care for ourselves in every way, every day.”
— Sam Owen
Listen to yourself
The next step is listening to yourself, your body, mind, and feelings. Although it can be difficult putting yourself before others, it is necessary. Don’t follow the school of thought that self-care is selfish. All you must understand is that you are as good to others as you are to yourself.
Fulfill your needs
To motivate and take care of yourself, you will need to fulfill your needs. You may be craving nutritious food, rest, time with close friends or family, or alone time. You may also want to try something new, be spontaneous, or be more organized and diligent.
All you need to think about is your present need instead of thinking about what others need. This is not expected to be difficult. So, spend time alone to figure out what you need, as an individual, uninfluenced by anyone other than you and your inner self.
Create boundaries
This will bring about self-protection of your energy, your time, your self-worth. Setting personal boundaries will be life-changing for you. This will be a significant life transition. You will have to decide to yourself from toxic relationships and distanced yourself from an environment not serving you.
In this way, you are eliminating people, things, or ideas from your life. At the same time, you create a healthy boundary between you and those people, things, and ideas.
Bottom Line
Despite the challenging and stressful world we live in, it is very crucial to care for yourself. Although you may struggle to care for yourself, these points above will give you the motivation you need to care for yourself. Especially after the pandemic, self care is now very important than ever.
