If I had to bet, I’d say you already know exactly what you ‘should’ be doing to look after yourself and make sure you’re at your best.
You’ve already heard you should be getting 8 hours of sleep a night, that you should be eating right and exercising, and doing something to calm and strengthen your mind. But how on earth, can you fit all that in, plus work, plus kids, plus hubby, plus plus plus!?
Before you even want to try, you need to know how important it is for you. And you need to draw a line in the sand to say, I’m worth it. Your family, friends and work are relying on you to be the best you, and you won’t be if you’re not looking after yourself.
OK so let’s talk about it.
sleep.
My littlest babe is 19 months now and she’s been sleeping 12 hours a night for months. But when she wasn’t, and we started our business. Oh yeh, you can bet that I was MAD at everyone telling me how important sleep was. There was no way I could actually get more sleep. I had 3 kids – didn’t they know!! Well I know. And I know that all you can do is your best.
The best you can do is set yourself up to have the best QUALITY sleep you can, which will help if the quantity isn’t there due to bubs!
What you can do:
- Set a bed time
- Create a calming night time routine for yourself (mine is gym, shower, moisturise, chat with hubs, read)
- Don’t drink caffeine 12 hours before bedtime
- Limit alcohol
- Don’t touch any technology an hour before you turn the lights out
Yes, you might get woken up 14 times, but you’ve done all you can do to put yourself in the best position to increase the quality of the sleep you doget!
What else can we do?
Yep, you guessed it.
nutrition.
Eat. Well.
I’m not how we expect that if all we put in is coffee, toast, the kids left over cheese, and a massive dinner followed by chocolate and wine, that we expect our bodies to run at their best. Ahhh nope.
Food is fuel. So where is your food getting you today? Me? Totally guilty of this this week.
We’re in the middle of changing our website over as I write this … which is no excuse but there’s been some un-characteristically late nights. Which means I’m tired and want to eat. All the time. A lot. A lot of super thick slices of sourdough with butter and honey to be exact. And for dessert … a WHOLE BOWL of home cured olives (thanks Dad!) and a cheeky glass of red wine (or 2) most nights.
So yeop, next week is a new week. Ha. You get it though. Moving on!
(pun not intended)
move.
OK, finally one I’m actually ticking the boxes for. I’m 5 for 6 so far this week. I love to exercise. Moving my body feels good, I get me time and I don’t need to beat myself up about eating what feels like half a loaf of bread every day.
Yes, I still find it hard to choose between the couch and a glass of wine, or a weights sash – but I’ve made it a non-negotiable because of how I feel afterwards. Plus, my ‘ultimate self’ exercises – and if I want to embody her one day, I better exercise too.
Moving can change your mood and your perspective like almost nothing else. Endorphins are the natural drug that can cure a whole host of ailments – most of them in our heads. So, get on it. Go for a power walk, breathe deep and see how you feel. It will work wonders, I promise.
calm.
Find something you love to do that relaxes you, and do it. Schedule it in (like everything else!)
So yeop, that trip to the rose garden, that bath, that art gallery visit, that painting sash, that reading time or meditation … book. it. in.
For me, I love finding great quotes and using a calligraphy pen to copy them into a visual diary. I love flipping through old copies of interior design magazines. I love cucooning myself in a blanket with a hot cuppa and a sugar free treat and reading a book. I love a really hot bath with epsom salts and essential oils. And I love walking to the beach and meandering along with my toes in the sand and the wind in my hair.
Find things you love, and do them often. By yourself if at all possible. It doesn’t have to be long. I find that just 30 minutes can make the world of difference to filling my cup.
learn.
Feed your brain.
If we’re not growing, we’re dying. It’s that simple. And we may not feel the shift if it happens gradually.
It’s so so easy to lose ourselves when we have children. And not lose all of ourselves necessarily, but lose pieces. We almost have to in the early days. There’s a gorgeous, hungry, snuggly dictator in the house after all. So much of our time is then taken up with feeding and cleaning and playing with our little one that ‘me time’ is probably the first thing to go.
But when you come out of the fog and start to prioritise yourself a little again, feeding your brain should be on the list. That doesn’t mean you have to start reading physics books (unless that’s your jam!) but it does mean we should be learning and growing in some capacity.
That could even be parenting books! Or business books, or history podcasts, or an online course, or learning a language or taking art classes or attending a mixture of professional development workshops, or conferences. Whatever floats your boat. Seriously! No rules here – as long as you’re learning something your overall wellbeing will benefit.
plan.
What to say about planning…
In my life, planning is the bedrock of all wellbeing. Maybe that says more about me that anything else … (control freak much?! hmm …)
What I mean is. We can’t do any of the above without planning. We also need to plan where we want to go, our how will we know when we get there? Without a plan, we might wake up in 5 or 10 years and realise we’ve travelled down the wrong road. In my mind, that would be a tragedy.
We only get one life. We’ve all got our own passions and aspirations and gifts to share with the world. Isn’t it our responsibility to be all we can be? Isn’t it our purpose to serve others with these gifts? And isn’t serving others the ultimate form of happiness and wellbeing?
That’s my two cents anyway.
So let’s give it all we’ve got mumma. Get your calendars out and schedule things in. You know you want to 😉
Can’t wait to hear how you implement some of these!