Self-Care For Overachievers
I've noticed something with many of my coaching clients over the years. When they talk about self-care, it ends up being about all the things they think they "should" do. Things like...
👉 Meditating for 10 minutes every morning.
👉 Working out four days a week.
👉 Taking a weekly yoga class.
👉 Reading a personal development book every month.
Now, there's absolutely nothing wrong with any of these actions. If they work for you - GO FOR IT.
But often these things don't really work for you.
Meditating is definitely the biggest one that falls into this category. You think you should be meditating each day, but you don't really like it or you try and it feel like a failure because you can't empty out your head, so you end up not doing it - and then you feel guilty for not doing it.
Same thing with that new exercise class. Or the treadmill sitting in your basement. Or hot yoga.
Which, seriously, I have NEVER understood. Hot yoga sounds like a nausea-inducing way to slip and slide all over my mat and end up with a pulled muscle. I can picture myself right now in down dog, my hands sliding straight out in front of me and face-planting directly into my mat.
NO THANK YOU.
And yet - there are people who LOVE hot yoga.
My point is there's no SHOULD when it comes to your self-care. You need to do what works for YOU - not what the research says or what other people are doing or anything else coming up in your head as the right way to do self-care.
Here's what I recommend: Listen to your body. Do what it needs.
That's it.
One of my favorite things to do is to set an alarm for 10-15 minutes and just lay on the ground. I don't focus on my breathing. I don't try to empty out my head. I don't try to sleep. I don't TRY to do anything at all. I just lay there until the alarm goes off.
And I ALWAYS feel better afterwards.
Is this meditation? A nap?
I don't know and it doesn't matter. It works for me and that's all that counts.
What works for you? What is your body telling you that you need?
Start asking yourself these questions today. Heading into the holidays is a great time to listen to your body and do what feels good.
Listen. Let go of should. Do what works for you.
P.S. If you are tired of should-ing all over yourself, my book can help. An Overachiever's Guide To Breaking The Rules will guide you to free yourself from should and live your truth. Get it here: https://www.heatherwhelpley.com/book