If you had to describe your lifestyle using 3 – 5 words, what would you choose?

I would describe my lifestyle as fast-paced, roller-coaster, ambitious, balanced and trendy.

What do you want more of, in your lifestyle?

I desire more balance in my life. A healthy life balance.

Living a fast-paced lifestyle, I feel like I’m always in a rush, never having enough time to get all the things on my to-do list checked off and often having to be intentional about slowing down.

In my early twenties, I was attracted to the fast-paced lifestyle. I loved keeping busy, having events on my calendar – places to be, people to see – always having something to look forward to. While that lifestyle still sings to me, I find myself scheduling these things with more downtime in between. Now that I’m knocking on 30, always being on the go just isn’t as appealing to me, as it once was. I loved the city life, I actually enjoyed crowded gyms, listening to music while stuck in traffic, and I wanted to visit NYC specifically to experience walking down the sidewalk drowning in a sea of people… 🤷🏾‍♀️😅

As I approach 30, I find myself reflecting over the past decade of my life, and I find that my ideal lifestyle has changed. Now, more than ever, I crave freedom and peace of mind – and in order to have this, I have had to become intentional about making self-care an essential part of my lifestyle.

Now, I am still adjusting to married life and working a new job, all while working on my entrepreneurial endeavors…It can be challenging to find and maintain a healthy balance but it is not impossible.

Having a healthy balance is not only necessary for our overall physical and mental well-being, but it also impacts the health of our relationships – romantic, platonic, business, etc. While I am still working on finding the right balance for this season of my life, I have come to understand that self-care must be an essential part of my lifestyle.

I believe that self-care should be an essential part of our lifestyle. Self-care should not just be our go-to when we’ve reached the point of burn-out and overwhelm, but it should utilized as a preventive measure as well. An effective way to do that is by identifying specific ways in which we can incorporate self-care into our lives, where it becomes a core part of our lifestyle.

This is for those who do not have “me time” as often as they should. This is for those who show up for everyone else but don’t do so well at setting boundaries and maintaining them. This is for those who struggle with saying “no” and tend to take on more responsibilities. You show up, you work hard for your family, your friends, your job or/and your business.. But now, it’s time to show up for YOU.

Let’s look at some practical ways we can incorporate self-care into our our lives so that it becomes a part of our overall lifestyle.

Firstly, it’s important to understand that there are different types or areas of self-care: Physical, Mental/Emotional, Spiritual, Social and Environmental.

The key is to identify at least 1 thing you can do daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually for each area and to find what works for YOU. What might be self-care for you may not be self-care for me. Check out some of the ideas below and feel free to share any ideas you have for incorporating self-care in the comments!

Self-Care Ideas:

Physical: Quality sleep, exercise, yoga, eat clean, stretch, massage, float therapy, detox, PCP appointments, Use your sick-time, deep breathing exercises, go outside – get natural Vitamin D(Sun) and a change of scenery

Emotional/Mental: Pray, meditate, stretch, therapy, journaling, breathing exercises, visualization exercises, use apps on your cellphone/tablet such as Calm, listen to sleep/guided meditations, listen to ambient noise, listen to lofi beats to enhance focus or promote relaxation, listen to binaural beats using headphones while meditating, learn to say NO – don’t spread yourself too thin, set boundaries

Social: Social media detox, social media breaks, go to new events that interest you, try something new, eat a t new restaurants, talk to support system, take a vacation, go on a staycation/personal retreat, friend dates, date night, game nights

Environmental: Spring clean your home and office space, declutter, organize, repairs, donate

Other: ASMR, time-blocking, use calendars/planners, get creative with how you schedule your PTO/vacation time

Identify what you can do – some daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually and others as needed, set the intention, put it on your calendar, set your alarms if you find it helpful and be consistent. Over time you’ll find what really works for you, it will become a habit and then a part of your lifestyle. Self-care is essential.

Self-care is HOW you can show up for YOU.

I wish you a blessed a prosperous day! Thank you for reading.