There’s so much I’d love to talk about with ‘serving yourself first’ so here are my top 10 tips of HOW…
*please message or contact me if you’d like help with any of these.
How to serve yourself first…
1. Know your boundaries – what’s acceptable to you, more importantly… what isn’t acceptable?
2. Now, stick to your boundaries! If it’s feels wrong or uncomfortable, chances are your boundaries are being compromised. Your body is telling you if it feels good or out of alignment. Explore if there’s another way this could be done which is acceptable to everyone?
3. Say ‘No’ to things sometimes (when you feel pressured to say yes).
4. Say ‘Yes’ to things sometimes (you know, the thing you’d really want to, but feel scared to, or just for the fun of it).
5. Enjoy a break. Not a break with guilt, but a genuine ‘ah that’s nice’ half hour of reading a magazine, having a cuppa, scrolling down the rabbit hole of fb Reels of cute animals doing funny things, sitting and looking at a lovely view. Whatever floats your boat. ENJOY it. *You don’t have to earn a break, it’s normal and good self care.
6. Delegate. Kids can learn life skills by helping out, ask for and ACCEPT help from those around you. Do you really need to be the one carrying it all? Really?! Can you and another person take turns, help each other out? They’re probably needing some help too.
7. Learn what your signs of stress are and look out for them.
8. Learn some ways that help you to reduce stress when you notice it building. This way you have learned techniques to use when you need them most.
9. What makes you laugh? What gives you that little spark that suddenly gives you energy? Include a smidge (or a lot) of that in your day. Find a new positive/funny/interesting page to follow on your social media thread. Drink from a mug with a stupid joke on it. However it works, bring that spark to gift yourself a daily smile (there’s actual science behind this one!!)
10. Understand and really feel in your body – that looking after yourself means you can do more and better for others afterwards. No one wins when you’re depleted and burnt out. Self care NOT aftercare. This isn’t you instead of others, this is you – in your best version being resourced to be present for others.