“Make yourself a priority. Fill yourself up so that you can give more to others.”
Oprah Winfrey hit the nail on the head when she was quoted as saying those words. Making oneself a priority is something that no longer has to take a backseat.
Be Spoke Wellness Partners wrote in an article that becoming a priority in your own life can be done in simply five steps.
“When you think about paying attention to yourself—your dreams, your body, your mental health and everything that has to do with you—what is it that you are thinking about?” author Limor Weinstein noted. “How would you feel if just for one hour (and maybe we can even stretch this a little bit to one day), you only think about you and your needs? Many of us confuse taking care of ourselves with being selfish or inconsiderate, but if you truly give this some thought, you’ll realize that in order to be all that you want for everyone else, you must first take care of yourself and make yourself a priority.”
Weinstein said that these five steps include being a bit self-centered, in moderation.
Step 1: Tell yourself it’s allowed to be selfish.
“While saying ‘selfish’ has negative connotations, I am using it purposely because I think that it is important that you know that it is OK to take care of yourself and attend to your needs,” Weinstein wrote adding that one thing to do is stand in front of the mirror and ask yourself: “What do I want? What do I need? How can I make myself feel better at this moment?”
She added that to write the answers down is “even better” and a great start to getting on the self-prioritization journey.
Step 2: Write down several things that are priorities in your life.
The author recommends to write down a list of 10 things that are vital to you and then rewrite them in a rank of priority.
“It might help to highlight the things that are important to you. Then, take a look at the list and think about everything that you have done the past week. Was any of what you did related to the list? Let’s even be more specific and ask yourself if what you’ve done in the past week was related to the top three things that are important to you or that you want to achieve,” Weinstein added.
She added that if you are holding onto some things that are not healthy mentally, ask yourself why are you holding onto things that make you feel “unhappy or unworthy,” that do not contribute to your well-being, and look into it further.
Step 3: Find out what is holding you back from your potential.
From digging deeper and consulting with a mental health professional, it’s time to look at what might be holding you back from keeping yourself a priority.
“For most people, fears and anxiety are at the core of why they’re not making themselves a priority,” Weinstein wrote, adding that, “whatever it is standing in your way, once again, ask yourself why.”
Step 4: What is it that will make me happy?
“Continue by asking yourself, what is it that I need to do to get myself there?” wrote Weinstein. Being happy, it is easy to live on autopilot, but it’s time to snap out of that and push harder to get to that space of happiness.
“I know that life is crazy and many of us have no choice but to work for as many hours as we can and to push hard to get things done, but sometimes, all it takes is a few minutes or an hour for you to invest in yourself, your well-being, your physical and mental health, or anything related to you,” Weinstein penned.
“Often, making yourself a priority isn’t easy and maybe it includes talking to a therapist who can help you see what it is that you really want more clearly.”
Find more information on https://www.bespokewellnesspartners.com/.