Invest in yourself now for future returns
I’m curious, how many times have you waited until you were sick to start taking vitamins or increasing your vegetable intake? Have you ever prioritised yoga or pilates after a back injury? Put off seeing a mental health professional until things got really hard?
Like you, I’ve certainly put off doing many things longer than I should have (#dentist).
But the thing is, you don’t need to wait until you’re stressed, sick or falling apart to take care of yourself.
I like to think of us human beings as not too dissimilar from superannuation. You don’t contribute a large investment and expect to make buckets and retire overnight. You invest regularly with the knowledge that while you won’t reap the rewards necessarily today, you will well into the future.
And like superannuation, we too will have periods of fluctuation. Ups and downs. And here’s the kicker. You should be investing in yourself more when you’re fit and well to reduce the intensity of the low periods…
I’m talking about prevention before intervention.
Every little bit that you do as an investment in your health puts you on the trajectory to reap the compounding interest rewards later on and provides a buffer during the inevitable low periods.
Rather than meditating when you’re experiencing heartbreak, meditate consistently when life is smooth, so you can better hold a supportive, self-compassionate space for yourself during the tough times.
That said, I’d like to acknowledge the fact that we often find new ways of taking care of ourselves when we are hurting. But, what I see and hear so often (clinically and when teaching) is once people find their feet - recover, those self care practices fall away. That’s like taking out life insurance through your super and then never reviewing despite your circumstances changing over the course of your life. Wild.
Self care is how we recharge our batteries and keep ourselves living well. In the midst of the pandemic, the term ‘self care’ became quite a buzz word. At the time of writing this, #selfcare has been used 68 million times on Instagram. And because of the over-saturation and use of the term, I fear that people are now tuning out of its essence and importance.
Let me be clear. Self care is not a trend. It’s not another phase of life.
Self care is non-negotiable.
And it’s not always bubble baths and spa dates with the girls (although, I’d be up for that!).
Self care looks like:
A late night Netflix binger going to bed early because there are tasks to complete the next day that are important to them;
Meditating or journaling consistently, not just when life gives you lemons;
Someone experiencing a depressive episode saying yes to a coffee catch up, despite the illness encouraging them to say no and stay home;
Choosing not to be someone’s bridesmaid and being honest with them about your circumstances so the friendship stays intact and you, out of debt.
Getting a yearly mole check;
Blocking out 30-60 minutes a day for down time in your calendar and committing yourself to using that time for the purpose of relaxing;
Declining an invitation despite the urge to say yes in order to make others happy, because those people don’t light you up;.
Opting into a monthly membership so you stay motivated to exercise;
Preparing your main meals on the weekend to reduce takeaway spending during the week;
Making new connections and letting old ones go when they’ve run their course;
Some of these are big investments and others represent daily doses of self care. And yes, give yourself permission to indulge in those massages, baths, weekend trips away, a night at the movies, a block of chocolate and so on… Life is to be enjoyed. Pleasure is what drives continuity. But like the old saying: everything in moderation.
By investing in the ‘less fun’ or more difficult choices, the pendulum swings effortlessly and you experience the ebbs and flows of life with more ease.
When you prioritise yourself and make balanced self care choices, you set yourself up for future success.
You strengthen neural pathways so these actions that seem a little harder to take now, become easier in time. It’s positive reinforcement.
At the beginning of this piece I posed a question to you about taking vitamins only after you’ve fallen sick. I’m not insinuating that by taking daily preventive herbs and vitamins you’ll never catch a cold. Again, nothing is certain. But you’ll surely suffer less.
I’d like to leave you with a final question and you are so welcome to reach out with your response.
With the silly season upon us, what are you doing to take care of yourself at this time?