The competitive business world is tough, and it can be hard to believe in your friends’ dreams. But we all have friends who have started their own businesses, and we want them to be successful.
We want them to be able to share their work with the world, and we want them to be able to support themselves by doing what they love. We want them to be happy.
So, to support your friends’ business, try these 9 things.
1) Offer Your Time
Offering to help your friend with whatever part of the business he or she needs the most is a great way to support a new business.
For example, if your friend’s needs are web design, you might offer your expert knowledge or skills to help him or her get their website up and running.
Or if your friend needs some money to get off the ground, you might be able to contribute some funds so he or she doesn’t have to start with a negative balance.
2) Give Your Friend Feedback
Feedback can mean a lot of things:
compliments on a great design
suggestions for what you’d like to see
complaints about problems with the product
criticisms of a performance
a series of questions to ask
Giving feedback to your friends is not a one-way street; they need to be willing to take feedback in return. I often find it helpful to write out a bullet list of feedback I’d like to see, then put the list into a simple spreadsheet and keep adding to it.
This way I can have a surprisingly good idea of what’s most important to me as a potential customer. And I can take my time and give them advice that is both useful and constructive.
3) Share Your Friends Work
Sharing your friend’s work is the best way to show your support. Tell them you’re excited about what they’re doing and want to see more of it!
Ask them what they’ve written so far about their business. When you read it, critique it. Look for places where they need improvement. Also, Encourage them to submit their work to magazines, publications, or anyone that would publish it
Share their work on social media and share their work as much as you can. Use social media to let your friends know you’re following them, and to comment on their posts. Give them positive feedback but be honest about what you like and don’t like.
4) Invest Financially
Investing is one of the best ways to boost a friend’s business.
One of my best friends, Mike, started his own outdoor adventure when I first moved to Denver. After investing in the business, Mike has had tremendous success. Because I knew Mike is a conscientious steward of money, his company turned a profit.
The good news is most startup companies leverage free technology, so investing does not need to cost you thousands, or even hundreds of dollars! Consider what some extra capital in your friends’ pocket can have on their business!
I am terrible at giving advice to other people, and I understand how awkward it can feel. But this can be an incredibly helpful way to support your friends business.
Make sure to encourage your friends to reach out to you if they are struggling with their new venture. There’s nothing worse than being alone and starting something new.
Don’t just assume that your friends know what they are doing. They might be scared and need someone to check in with them regularly to make sure they are making the right decisions.
6) Introduce Your Friend to People You Know
“You might be surprised at how few people your friends know outside of their industry,” says Emmanuella Coles, founder of Ayamajoko, a now-famous hair and skin care line based in Ghana.
That’s where you come in. The more people your friends meet, the more opportunities they’ll have for exposure and success. Meet them in person, and introduce them to other local business owners.
Even better, encourage them to join networking events or meetups. And don’t stop there. Let them know you’re available for them to call on for advice.
7) Be a Sounding Board
Let’s face it, your friend is facing real challenges.
It’s easy for us to want to swoop in and fix it. To tell your friends exactly what they should be doing, and how they should be doing it. But the real hard work of growing and developing the business is going to come from your friends, themselves.
Give them real feedback Their business isn’t perfect. It’s a work in progress. It may not be the business of their dreams, yet. But allowing them an outlet to vent and bounce ideas off of is incredibly helpful.
8) Become a Partner In Their Business
Even if you are not yet an investor, become a partner. It’s best to go all-in, but just investing a small amount of time helps your friends from taking a step back.
You can join their team as a trusted advisor and see first hand how the business is doing, how the sales are going, and how their efforts are paying off.
Or, be a product tester. If your friends have created a product or service, participate as a product tester. By testing the product, you can feel confident in your friends’ product and offer your professional advice and opinion on its usability.
And when the product is launched, it can be helpful to know how much the product has changed from your initial feedback.
9) Help Connect Them With Others
We all have friends that are talented writers, musicians, photographers, or athletes — and we want to be able to connect them with other people who have similar passions.
To do this, you need to be aware of the types of groups your friends are a part of and who else they have connections with. Encourage them to consider their social media account direct message conversations, too!
If your friends are passionate about a specific group of people (say, the Army or Cooking), then start seeing what kind of local activities are going on around them. If your friends are in a community choir, start joining them at their rehearsals or going to their concerts.
Not only do you want to be able to support your friends, but we want them to have other people to support them, too.
Conclusion
Whether you are a blogger, freelancer, or small business owner, chances are you have friends that are constantly hustling to make their business a success.
When someone you love is working hard to make their dreams come true, it’s not only important to support them but also to get to know their work.
So, refer back to this article and the 9 ways you can support your friends and get to know their work.
The support you give to your friends will be returned a thousand times over. The loyalty you have towards your friends and family is everlasting and is often a more valuable asset.
If we can focus on one positive choice at a time, they will start to add up. The more they build, the more impactful they become. And the happier we feel.
Seeking a better tomorrow? Feeling the burden of constant negativity? You’re not alone.
We are exposed to SO much negativity each and every day. We see it in the news and all over social media. Negative conversations often surface when we are out at dinner with friends. And negative behaviors emerge even amidst our family gatherings. This constant stream of information (and often overwhelming amount of negativity) brings us down.
We can’t escape these negative thoughts, conversations, and behavior entirely. Nor should we.
Let’s face it, not all of our “friends” or family members are supportive of our lifestyle choices or the new goals we have set for ourselves. Try taking a step back from unsupportive influences in your life, and increase the time spent with your biggest cheerleaders! Making the conscious choice to spend more time with people who support you can make a huge impact.
Change the subject.
It’s easy to go down the black hole of negativity when you’re hanging out friends or spending time with loved ones. It often starts with someone bringing up something they saw on the news, or talking about someone they encountered that day who really pissed them off. The conversation quickly spirals. And before you know it, you are all worked up about something that truly doesn’t matter and doesn’t impact your life in any way.
Why do we spend all this energy getting upset over trivial things? Life is a lot more positive and a lot less stressful if we can let this go and separate ourselves from these types of conversations. Try changing the subject when things start going down that black hole to something more positive.
Join a group with similar interests.
Many cities and towns have community groups for people with similar interests and goals. Getting out of your comfort zone and joining a group of like minded individuals can help surround yourself with positivity! For example, there are often running groups, book clubs, boutique yoga studios, church groups, and adult sports leagues. Or support groups for moms/dads, different types of addictions such as alcohol or narcotics, breastfeeding women, people with chronic illness such as diabetes or cancer, and so many more, Do a quick google search to see if there is a group you may be able to join today in your community.
2) Exercise by doing something YOU find enjoyable.
Regular physical activity is one of the very best ways to help you stay both mentally and physically fit! The benefits of exercise are plentiful – including stress reduction, decreased risk of chronic illness, improved mood, better sleep, enhanced self-esteem, and so many more. So it is a great positive choice you can make today.
To get the most out of it, I highly recommend choosing a form of exercise you enjoy. Remember, exercise doesn’t have to mean going to the gym or running tirelessly on a boring treadmill. It can be going for a walk through the neighborhood with your dog, going for a run in the park, playing basketball with your kids, or finding a Yoga video on YouTube to follow along with.
It doesn’t matter what type of exercise you choose. And you don’t have to commit hours per day either. Even 10 minutes is better than nothing! Any amount of time you can spend is worthwhile.
So, get out there and make the positive choice to exercise today! You won’t regret it – and it will leave you feeling energized and accomplished.
3) Spread Kindness.
Think about that feeling you’ve had when a family member – maybe your child, mom, or sibling – opened a special gift you got them. Remember the joy and warmth it brought to your own heart.
Or think about a time you’ve helped a stranger. Maybe you helped an elderly woman get an item off the top shelf at the grocery store. Or perhaps you volunteered over the holidays to help children in need. Think about the happiness it brought you, knowing you made a positive impact on a complete stranger’s life.
Acts of kindness bring unexpected joy. It reminds us of all the good in the world and that life is so much bigger than ourselves.
Make the positive choice to spread kindness today.
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Buy the person behind you in line their coffee at Starbucks “just because”
Sign up to volunteer your time at a local shelter or non-profit
Send a loved one a card in the mail for their birthday, anniversary, or just to say hello.
Reach out to a friend who may be going through a hardship to offer support or a listening ear.
Go to the dollar store and buy a few items (water, protein bar, etc.) for a local homeless person in your area.
Bake cookies for your neighbors and attach a positive note.
Acts of kindness often inspire others to do the same. Together, we can make the world a bit better… starting today 🙂
4) Carry a water bottle with you.
Staying hydrated helps you stay healthy – which contributes positively to your mood and overall well-being. And the more water you drink, the less likely you are to drink sugary beverages or sodas.
The best way to keep drinking water throughout the day?
Get in the habit of carrying a water bottle with you at all times. Getting in the habit of drinking water (rather than other beverages) to stay hydrated is one of the easiest ways to make a quick positive choice today!
5) Create a positive nutrition goal.
Creating a specific nutrition goal is a great way to make a small, positive, and impactful change today.
For example, I LOVE all types of fruits and have no problem getting in my recommended daily dose each day. But I really struggle eating enough vegetables. So my nutrition goal is to incorporate one vegetable into my dinners this month. This goal is bite-sized (no pun intended) and realistic. Rather than setting a broad and extreme goal such as “eat healthy” for 30 days, I set a goal that is attainable for me and specific to my needs.
Here are a few other ideas our readers have tried!
Eat breakfast each morning this week.
Add two pieces of fruit to my current diet for the next 14 days.
Make desserts a special treat for the weekends only this month (by not eating desserts on weekdays).
The great part is, once you achieve a bite-sized goal and you’re able to sustain it for a few weeks, it’s more likely to become a habit. Then you can build upon that positive nutrition habit you’ve created by setting (and achieving) your next goal!
6) Take initiative.
I’m sure you have some items on your bucket list that you haven’t checked off yet. Things you always hope to get to, but never quite have the time.
I encourage you to not forget about your bucket list items – as these are likely the things in life that will spark the most joy and bring positivity into your life! And the only way to get those items done is to take initiative to do it. Starting today.
If you’ve always dreamed of going to Italy but can’t afford it. Start saving today – even if it’s just one dollar. Take initiative to get started toward this goal.
If you’ve always wanted to learn a new language, but never had the time, then start learning… today. Download an app like Duolingo, type a few words into Google Translate, or watch a language lesson on YouTube. At the end of the day, you will have learned something new and you took initiative to get started with something you are passionate about!
Positive Choices Wrap Up
By reading through these six positive choices you can make today for a better tomorrow, you’ve already taken the first step. You took initiative by seeking out information to better yourself. You surround yourself with positivity by reading about positive ways to impact your life (rather than going down the black hole of negativity with endless news and social media posts). So you’ve already put two of these into practice today – and you probably didn’t even realize it!
Keep up the great work. And remember to stop and pause to acknowledge the positive changes you ARE making each day. Then keep adding to it little by little.
There are endless ways to add positivity to your life and make positive choices. And we would love to hear from you. Share with us in the comments below if you have additional ideas, or if you were able to implement any of the ideas above today!
Why do many people find it hard to achieve what they want? No matter how much they try or how much effort they put in, it seems they still find themselves stuck. They will want better results or a better life for themselves, but in the end, all their efforts are futile. Do you find yourself dreaming of a perfect life, but something keeps blocking you from achieving your goals? Then what you need is a vision board. Even though vision boards have been around for years, they are currently in trend. We see many celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres, Jim Carrey, and others flaunting their trendy vision boards online. But do vision boards really work? Keep reading to discover what to put on a vision board and how to make a vision board online and empower your goals and dreams!
Vision Boards are scientifically proven mediums to help you materialize your goals and your dreams. It works on the principle that the more you see and visualize what you want, the more your subconscious mind becomes aware of the opportunities for you to achieve them. It makes your mind more focused and determined to materialize them without even knowing it.
And here’s the best news. Creating a vision board is not as time-consuming as it used to be, thanks to the many digital resources available online. There are plenty of super powerful tools that are absolutely worth every second you spend on them. Read on to find out what is a vision board, how it helps you, and how to create a fantastic vision board online.
What is a Vision Board?
A vision board is a representation of your aspirations and dreams you have in your life. A depiction of the goals you wish to achieve in your life. Moreover, these ideas inspire your imagination and allows you to visualize what your success will look like. It is a way to surround yourself with media images of your ideal life. A vision board works on the power of your subconscious mind. In turn, focusing your energy by activating the law of attraction to help you reach your dreams.
How Does a Vision Board Help?
Manifests Your Ideal Life. Vision boards work as a powerful tool to help manifest your ideal life. It makes your subconscious mind look for different opportunities that your conscious mind might not discover.
It is a Powerful Mental Practice. When you visualize yourself doing something, it actually gives you a boost and helps you get much better results.
Makes You Exercise Your Imagination. The entire process of creating a vision board forces you to dream bigger and think of attaining a life you otherwise would never imagine you can lead.
Helps You Be Specific. Even if you already think a lot about your future, your ideas might be a little vague. Vision board helps you create concrete, more concrete and defines goals.
It Helps Keep Your Goals in Front of Your Mind . Once you create your vision board, you will have a visual reminder of the things you want to do. You know the things that are important to you, even if they are not urgent, but need your little time.
It Motivates You When Your Motivation is Lost. It can be easy to lose focus on what is important in your life. Vision board gives a boost to your inspiration and forces you to work hard on the things you want to make happen.
Creating a vision board will help you be clear of your goals and dreams in life so that you work towards making them a reality. Even if you are not into crafts or do not have art supplies or photos lying around, you can create a vision board digitally that will inspire action. Here are the steps on creating your own vision board online.
Step 1 – Figure out What You Want
It is important to be specific when it comes to how you visualize your future. Your vision should be real and achievable. You need to ask yourself about the things you want or want to invite into your life. Once you are sure of what you want, you can think about the different things you would want to add to your vision board.
Step 2 – Choose an Appropriate Website/App
Next is to find a website or an app to create a high-quality digital board that works for you. One way is to use a Word document and piece together a collage to tell a story. But, there are other alternatives that make the process much easier and more effective. You can use different apps such as Canva, Picmonkey, Design Wizard, Trello, Pinterest, Instagram, and others to create your vision board.
These apps also do not require any designing expertise and help you create a vision board without the mess and the hassles of a physical board. These apps come loaded with many different templates and affirmation ideas. Some of these also allow you to record music, videos, and voice recording to create a more customized vision board.
Step 3 – Find Content for Your Board
This is the exciting part! You need to visualize your goals and intentions – what it feels like, look like or even smell like? Use images and quotes that align with your goals and represent your highest self. The goal here is to have the perfect combination of words, photos, art, and other things on your vision board to tell an inspiring story. The best part about an online vision board is that your search is not limited to the things you have, as you can find pretty anything you want on the internet.
Step 4 – Bring It All Together
After you have picked all the different vision board content, download them to your desktop or smartphone and start arranging them on the vision board. Take your time and arrange it the way you want. When the vision board inspires you every time you look at it, you should know you did a great job. Creating your online vision board should always be a simple yet fun process.
What to Put on a Vision Board?
When it comes to putting things on a vision board, the possibilities are endless. You do not want to be stuck with just one way to organize your online vision board. Here are some great ideas you can take inspiration from when creating your digital vision board. But first, let us talk about some commonalities your board should contain.
Values you want to live by
Desires you have
Goals you want to accomplish
Other Important Things You Would Like to Incorporate into Your Life
Things You Want to Realize in Your Life
Organization Method 1 – Based on Topics
One of the easiest ways to organize your vision board is to find different images, words, art, or affirmations that support your goals, values, or desires. Some of the possible topics to include in your vision board are –
Once you decide on the topics close to your goals, you can choose to put items based on different topics separately or mix all of them together on the board.
Organization Method 2 – Intuition Method
This is one of the most popular choices on the way to organize a vision board. This method is all about what speaks to you when you look at certain images, words, quotes, any piece of art, or anything else around you. This method only works if you know how to tune into your intuition. This draws an emotional connection with those objects you wish to add to your vision board. If you are still struggling with trusting your intuition, look for anything that will make you feel happy, grounded, and at peace.
Organization Method 3 – Goal Setting Method
As the name suggests, the goal-setting method will work for you if you already have certain goals in life and want to visualize them. You need to look out for words, art, images, mantras, and others that support your life goals. You may also include certain skills or tools you will need to achieve these goals.
Organization Method 4 – Intentional Method
This works in the same way as the intuition method. But here you focus on the why. If you want to live your life in a certain way, you need to focus on the ‘why’. Make sure to put those on your digital vision board to guide you on your journey, too! Like the goal-setting method, you find inspiring media that supports your ‘whys’.
The above methods provide you with certain ideas on ways to put your vision on your vision board. Remember that your vision board reflects you, so do not restrict yourself to just one method. You can use one or a mixture of different methods to bring your vision board to life.
Display your dreams!
Once you have created your vision board, choose a location where you will see the board multiple times a day. You can use the digital vision board as your desktop screen saver, your phone background, or save it on the app you used to create the vision board. You can even get a large print out of your vision board and place it somewhere in your house. Or your office to inspire you to work towards them. When you find yourself looking at the board, focus on certain images and imagine how you will feel. Take steps to achieve those goals or whatever it is you want that are depicted by those graphics and texts. Make adjustments to your vision board as necessary or as your goals are realized; add new ones!
In the end, it does not matter how you create your digital vision board or how it looks. All that matters is how you connect with it. And it brings joy and positivity into your life to provide you with a clear image of how you want your future to turn out.
It is easy to see that the journey to self-care can be thorny. People often fall into traps in their attempt to take care of themselves. Why is this the case? It is because everything that feels good does not particularly help your self-care practice. People use various unhealthy coping mechanisms to feel good, which they often mistake as types of self-care during turbulent times. For instance, using drugs, alcohol, gambling, over-eating, isolating and more.
Before we deep dive into the 4 types-of self care lets’ look at some common signs you need self care. And what you can do today to care for your needs without taking up all of your time! So, in order to build a solid self-care foundation, let’s identify some common side effects you might be experiencing…
5 Signs You Need Self Care In Your Life.
Estimated reading time:22minutes
1). Uncontrolled Stress.
Stress is widely misunderstood. On one hand stress is vital to our survival as humans. It’s responsible for increased alertness, decisiveness and action. However, stress can build and if not managed properly, can wreak havoc on your body, mind and more. So what exactly is uncontrolled stress?
Uncontrolled stress is a reaction to how we as individuals manage stress. Everyone is different, and our coping mechanisms vary greatly. But understanding how you respond to stress is critical to crafting a self care routine that helps challenge and alleviate this built up stress. First, here are some common signs that you might have uncontrolled stress in your life.
Anger outbursts
Crying spells
Numbing (alcohol, drugs, etc)
Overeating
Poor sleep
Depression
Pain and muscle soreness.
2) Your time is controlled by others.
One of the most common complaints about growing up is not having any time for yourself. Between work obligations, family and more putting some time on the calendar for you is often a pipe dream. But, if you aren’t caring for your needs consistently, everyone around you suffers, including you. By taking time to yourself to heal and recharge will enable you to care more deeply for your loved ones as well. And they will notice this change in you.
It might seem counterintuitive but taking time to practice the different types of self-care for your needs is incredibly UNSELFISH. Understand that when you care for your needs and you feel great about who you are, that positive energy rubs off on your loved ones as well. Although hard work is important, be careful not to confuse overwork with hard work. Remember, everything turns back on when you unplug for a little bit. Even you.
3) You’re your worst enemy.
Have you ever noticed that person we talk to most in life is ourselves? And what’s more alarming is most of this talk is negative in nature. We constantly tell ourselves we aren’t good enough, we don’t have the talent, or we don’t deserve happiness. Often times this negative self talk is wrapped in feelings of shame and guilt. The negative feelings are deeply rooted from past mistakes and if we aren’t careful, we become our worst enemy. This is one of the biggest signs you need self care in your life. Try talking to yourself like you would your best friend. If your friend made a mistake, would you berate them for that mistake? Probably not.
So why do we treat ourselves differently? Pay attention to the words you choose and go easy on yourself. Everyone makes mistakes, the important thing is to learn from these mistakes and move forward. It’s rarely if ever useful to talk down to yourself. Be your own parent. Be your own best friend and use words that comfort and support you, not tear you down.
4) Your support network needs work.
After a year like 2020, it’s easy to fall into this. Our support systems and network of individuals that we can trust and rely on has gone away, wreaking havoc on all types of self-care practices.. Much of this is due to isolation and distancing, but that doesn’t mean we can’t continue to nurture our support network. Reach out to the friends that have similar aspirations and goals as you do, and be wary of the ones that are showing signs they need self care too. We are creatures of habit and if our network of support is depressed, overusing alcohol/drugs and more we adopt these behaviors as well. No one is immune to this.
So be vigilant in who you keep in your support network as this can be all the difference from feeling overwhelmed and stressed to a life in balance. Having one or two trusted individuals that you know will support you is vital in your journey to keeping yourself healthy and happy in the new year.
5) Unpredictable mood
Increased irritability is another common sign you need self care in your life. Moodiness can stem from a host of related incidents. And having trouble managing your mood is a sign you’re out of balance somewhere. Notice your mood and take inventory of everything that is stressing you out. This can be work, family, the news and more. Once you’ve taken inventory, create a list of things you can control and the things you can’t. A lot of stress is over things that we actually cannot control, and thus need to understand that the moodiness is a result of uncontrollable events. Such as the constant beratement of bad news on feeds. We can’t control this news but we ‘feel it’. By focusing on what you can control you can drastically limit this moodiness in your own life.
Oftentimes, organizing the ‘mess’ or ‘to-do list’ in an actionable way can help with this. Limit frustration and anger by having a clear action plan on how to tackle whatever is stressing you out. By ignoring this moodiness you may be missing out on some bigger problems in your life that require attention.
4 Types of Self-Care
When you comprehensively take care of yourself, you’ll, by default, have balanced physical and mental health, feel more active, improve your immunity, increased self-awareness, have gratitude, and be more productive. However, to discuss self-care elaborately, it is important to delve into its most important subsets of self care.
All of these signs you need self care are commonplace. And many suffer from one or many of these on a daily basis. But understanding what your response is to stress can help move through it and not fall into these negative responses to stress. If stress keeps you awake at night, develop a self care night routine that will put you to sleep fast. Or if built up stress is causing numbing behavior, understand that this is avoiding the problem. It is not confronting it and moving through it. Now you know the signs you need self-care, but where to start? Next, we will take a deep dive into the 4 types of self-care that set a solid foundation for you to easily manage whatever life throws at you!
Continue reading for ways you can incorporate these different types of self-care elements into your life!
Physical Self Care
Health is wealth, and current times have made it clearer than ever before. When discussing self-care, the first type of self-care that immediately comes to mind is physical self-care. These days, people’s lives are surrounded and immersed in unhealthy elements, starting from hectic professional life to fast foods, uncontrolled stress, lack of sleep, and more. We keep working to make our lives better only to find out we are doing just the opposite.
As mentioned earlier, the principle of self-care is about finding the right balance, and it is the same with physical self-care. You have to know what’s good and bad for your physical health and draw a line where you need to. Give your physical health the priority it rightfully deserves because the only thing in this world that is truly yours is your body. If you are entangled in confusion as to how to start a physical self-care routine and what to do and what not to do, we will help bring clarity through the points mentioned below –
Take Rest
Your body is a biological machine, and it needs rest. When you stop giving it the rest, it needs to recharge, thinking nothing will happen, it will prove you wrong sooner than you can imagine. Don’t live in the bubble that you’re young, and nothing will happen to you. It is important to know when your body can’t take anymore and give it the rest it deserves after a long day. Instead of scrolling through social media platforms, give your mind, body, and eyes some rest and put that phone or laptop aside. Maintain a proper sleep routine and get at least 7-8 hours of sleep every day is critical for all types of self-care.
You are what you eat, or your food becomes you. Put it whichever way you want, but the food you eat makes a huge impact on your health. It can make or break your body. Make sure you’re eating healthy and having a balanced diet, and not living off coffee and junk food, which has become common among youth and middle-aged people these days. Don’t make excuses that you don’t get time to cook healthy or you’re tired. You make time for what’s important. Your health, body, and your food are important. Don’t take your health for granted.
Exercise Daily
When it comes to physical self-care, the discussion about exercise goes without saying. Exercising has become more important today than ever before because most people have a day job of sitting in front of their computers all day. People hardly do any physical activity except for commuting to and from home and office. Go for a jog every morning or workout at a local gym, or try to find time to do yoga at home. There are many exercises you can do at home without needing any piece of specialized exercise equipment. Taking out half an hour to an hour of your time every day for this type of self-care can make a huge difference if you really mean yourself well. Don’t overdo it too, and try to find a balance.
Drink Water
Staying hydrated is important for your body. While everyone knows it, few of us do deprive ourselves of the minimum amount of water our body needs to function optimally. Drink water periodically throughout the day, and if you’re careless about it, set reminders. Avoid having fizzy drinks and replace them with water. It helps eliminate toxins from your body, keeps you healthy, and ensures you stay active.
While there are numerous ways for physical self-care, those mentioned above are the fundamental ways you just cannot ignore or skip. The cost of ignoring these physical self-care ways can be really expensive. Having discussed the topic of physical self-care briefly, let us move to understand emotional self-care intricately.
Emotional Self Care
Our physical health is dependent on our emotional health and vice versa. Every part of our being is interconnected and interdependent. When you’re happy, you’ll automatically be more productive, feel good, be more active, and have the energy, motivation, and resilience to take on any task, no matter how challenging it is. When you’re feeling low or sad, you won’t feel like doing anything; forget about taking on a challenging task. You won’t be working to your full potential, and it will reflect in your work as well and, most importantly, would negatively impact your personal life and relationships.
Emotional self-care is all about finding ways never to get knocked down by challenges, whether professional or personal. When you believe in yourself and are hopeful about a better tomorrow, today’s difficulties don’t seem that bitter after all. In other words, you need to manage and nourish your emotional well-being, as it’s crucial for all types of self-care. Let us discuss a few tips for emotional self-care
Let Go
Whether it is a relationship, people, heartbreak, failure, loss of a loved one, or any other trauma or negative set of emotions, it is important to embrace it first with all your being and then let go. Life is all about ‘keep on keeping on,’ and you can’t stay stagnant in one place due to a bumper on the way. Let go of negativity, hate, anger, sadness, or any other feelings that stop you from being you or not letting you exploit your full potential in life.
Move On
Once you let go of negativity in your life, whether it is relationship, people, or emotions, you’ll find it easier to move on. Negativity, fear, insecurities, over-thinking, anxiety, and other such emotions block our road and don’t let us move on. However, it is important to keep reiterating to ourselves that you’re meant for more than this and that you’re better than this. Condition and train your brain not to let negativity overpower you. It helps you stand your ground no matter how tough it gets and empowers you to move ahead in the right direction.
Don’t Hold Grudges
When you hold a grudge against someone because they wronged you in some way, you tend to live that exact moment and feel the same way when you were wronged, over and over again. It keeps inflating the bubble of hate and anger inside you that comes out in different ways. It constantly keeps you upset and doesn’t let you live your life vibrantly because you’re constantly glued to negativity. Negative thinking and holding grudges has a massive impact on all types of self-care.
Engage With Emotions, Don’t Hide
We often feel emotionally drained because we are used to suppressing negative emotions rather than engaging with them head-on. And understanding this is a critical element in balancing the Don’t play hide and seek with your emotions, and feel them because you can’t attain emotional peace till you don’t deal with emotions that are troubling you inside.
Find Purpose
People with a clear purpose in life are not easily jolted off balance because they know what they want, where they are heading, and what to do to fulfill their purpose. Anything that comes in between them and their purpose is not given importance. Find a purpose in life to anchor your emotions from swaying too much too often. It helps you get the clarity you need to focus more on what’s important than burning the midnight oil in fear, insecurities, anger, hatred, and being ungrateful to what you have.
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One of the key ingredients to emotional self-care is to manage stress. When you’re constantly under stress, be it professional or personal reasons, your physical and mental well-being are negatively affected. It gives rise to many physical health concerns while attracting mental disorders, which can collectively disorient your life in more ways than you can imagine. We all are under stress from time to time, but we need to know when to take our minds off and pause. Take a breather frequently from work, life, and everything that stresses you. Find a hobby, listen to music, exercise, go for a vacation, talk with your friends, play with your pet, or write a journal daily. Do anything that makes you feel like your authentic self inside.
When it comes to the different types of self-care, one of the most ignored aspects of mental health. The materialistic lifestyle of people these days have made it difficult to keep your mind at peace. Finding contentment in what you have now has become difficult because we focus on what we don’t have. Mental health is as important as physical health, if not more, and one cannot ignore it or get complacent with it under any circumstances. Mental self-care is all about decluttering your mind to ensure it continues to navigate your day-to-day activities and life smoothly and productively, without any hiccups. Here, let us discuss a few ways to take care of your mental well-being.
Stay Active
At times, mental health issues like anxiety or depression make it difficult to go out, mingle with others, exercise, etc. It is important to realize that you can’t let these problems dictate your life; else, the problem will continue to worsen and get bigger with time. We often don’t know we have a mental health issue, and it continues to eat up our positivity bit by bit, rendering us helpless, sad, and unproductive.
Get Enough Sleep
Ensure that you get enough rest and sleep every day because our brain needs rest to function optimally. Without enough rest, our brain and body don’t work at their best. Poor sleep can increase stress levels causing numerous health risks. Allowing our brains and body to regenerate will do wonders for your practice of any type of self-care.
You cannot deny that listening to music makes you feel good and helps you relax. It is important for your mental health to stay calm and relaxed. It is showcased in studies that listening to music helps you regain your composure. What’s more is helps stay focused, uplifts your mood, and loosens you up.
Avoid Alcohol and Drugs
This point is valid for all types of self-care, whether physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. You can’t let your gifted mind and body be controlled by something that’s unnatural and sets you on the path of self-destruction. An occasional drink or two may not harm you, but when it ceases to be fun and becomes a necessity is when the problems start to surface, one by one. It would make your mental health a mess to the extent that your professional and personal life would suffer irreversibly. The only thing these things are good at giving are regrets, so stay away from them!
Reset Your Mind
It is important to reset your mind from time to time by going on a vacation, hanging out with your friends and family, and so on. Take time off for yourself to do things you love. It would help you indulge in introspection and gain clarity of what you want, what you like, what you don’t need, what you need to change, and so on. Keep a no-work day often when you don’t work or even think about it. Start a hobby, do yoga, meditate, indulge in cooking or gardening, painting, or just about anything that helps you be you without a care in the world.
There is no harm in confessing or realizing that you need help. We all can do it with some help from time to time. No one is perfect, and we are not meant to be too! If you feel you’re unable to keep your mind in one place, stay focused, get rid of negativity, or feel happy no matter how much you try, the problem might have become bigger than you can handle. Take professional medical help and see a therapist because it helps. Talk to a friend about it if you need some help to get some reassurance. In any case, getting help when you need it to change your life for good is better than living in a shell all your life.
Spiritual Self Care
A healthy routine is incomplete until all the types of self-care are balanced. That is mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual, are addressed and taken care of properly. Your overall well-being depends on it more than you would like to believe. Maybe your efforts to achieve peace, happiness, and prosperity aren’t gaining momentum or realizing your goals because your spirit is not satiated.
The Spiritual type of self-care is a subjective topic because its definition may vary from person to person, depending on your environment growing up, religious ideologies, and so on. However, spirituality is about connecting with our authentic self or to the universe on a much deeper level to find peace, acceptance, awe, gratitude, happiness, and solace. Here are a few activities you can engage yourself in for spiritual self-care –
Meditate
Meditation is the easiest way to get started on a spiritual path. It does take some discipline and effort to get started with practicing it daily, but once you start to experience its life-changing benefits, you can’t think of a life without it. It brings clarity in your life, helps you settle down emotionally and mentally, reduces stress, improves your breathing, filters out negativity from your life, and recollects your energy to stay focused.
Spend Time in Nature
Whether it is going for a mindful walk every morning in a park or cycling through the nearby woods, it is important to spend a sufficient amount of time in and with nature. It not only reduces stress but has shown to have an anti-inflammatory effect on our body. Your spiritual side gets a much-needed kick when you spend quality time in nature, enjoy its elements, and be at peace with it. Let your sensory elements feel nature, and you’ll experience a spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental uplift.
Practice Forgiveness
Forgiving , especially yourself, will work wonders for this type of self-care. Don’t get stuck in patterns in your life that do not serve you well. Holding on to grudges with anger and hate without letting go doesn’t allow you to live your life the way it is meant to. Don’t waste your energy on holding grudges, but free yourself by forgiving and moving on. It is an important spiritual self-care tip that you must take seriously. Life is short anyway; when you hold on to a grudge, you’re just adding to your wounds and blocking the path of healing to occur.
Practice Silence and Solitude
While it is important to connect to a community, it is equally important to spend time with yourself. Practice silence from time to time to unclutter your mind and recollect your energy diverted to unwanted paths. It clears the noise within and helps you think clearly, which is important to connect to your deeper self. When you practice solitude and silence together, you unveil your true desires, purpose, and emotions. Do it once, and you’ll understand its relevance soon enough.
Prayer
One of the ways to practice spirituality and self-care is to pray often. It would help you connect and be in harmony with your higher self. It can be done in many different ways and depending on your religion, environment, surroundings, culture, and location, you can pray whichever way you feel like or used to. Prayers are a powerful way to connect with the higher dimension, open up your spiritual side, and commence the natural healing process.
Spirituality connects with our soul in a way that defines the true meaning of our existence and uncovers our purpose in life. Whether you attain inner peace by meditating, yoga, prayers, or other means, it is important to find inner peace in the end. It is what practicing spirituality self-care is all about.
Types of Self-Care FAQ
What are the different types of self-care?
Self-care is anything and everything you do for your own wellness. Although definitions vary, self-care is commonly broken down into 4 main categories:
1) Physical Self Care
2) Emotional Self Care
3) Mental Self Care
4) Spiritual Self Care
What is physical self-care?
Physical self-care are activities that directly support your body. This includes, but not limited to:
1) Good sleep
2) Healthy eating
3) Daily physical activity
4) Hydration
What is mental self-care?
Mental self-care includes activities that support your ability to think, learn and grow. This includes, but not limited to:
1) Self-development
2) Professional development
3) Resting and recharging
4) Self reflection and introspection
What is emotional self-care?
Emotional self-care includes activities that support your ability to love and care for yourself and others. This includes, but not limited to:
1) Setting boundaries with loved ones
2) Engaging with emotions, don’t hide
3) Healing past traumas
4) Managing stress
What is spiritual self-care?
Spiritual self-care includes activities that to connect you with purpose and meaning. This includes, but not limited to:
1) Meditation
2) Connecting with nature
3) Prayer
4) Mindfulness
Types of Self-Care Wrap up
When you practice self-care, it is important to have a comprehensive and holistic approach to gain the benefits and harmony in your life you seek. For this reason, it is important to channelize your focus and efforts on all the four key aspects of self-care rather than just focus on one of them. It does take patience, discipline, and perseverance to stay on the course, but when you get used to its benefits, the efforts you put in will start to seem like investments. The habit of living in peace with yourself, connected to your emotions, and opening up to your future with hope and clarity is life-changing. Following the self-care tips and suggestions mentioned above would pave the way for a more fulfilling life while extensively enhancing your mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being.
Self-care is anything and everything you do for your own good. It’s all about knowing when you’re off-balance. Self-love, self-respect, self-confidence, self-esteem, and so on are attributes of self-care. And if you take good care of yourself, you’ll never lack balance on these fronts.
Many of us feel drained and emotionally spent from time to time. It can be for many different reasons, but if you’re constantly feeling tired, exhausted, low, and emotionally drained, it is time you find ways to protect your energy. Physical and mental health is linked to each other, and a negative impact on one would reflect on the other as well. So, even if you are physically fit, if your mental energy is low, it would show on your body as well in one way or the other. One of the biggest reasons why we feel depleted of positive and creative energy inside us is negativity…
Protect Your Energy
No matter what situation you’re in or what life throws at you, it is important to stay positive. It is natural to feel stressed and tensed during difficult stages of our life, but one should not let the situation take control of you. It should be just the opposite, and it can only happen if you stay positive. If you focus on the problem rather than the solution, the negativity will engulf you.
As a result, you’ll feel defeated and drained of energy to move ahead. Or get back up after being knocked down. Your thoughts play a huge role in this regard, and it is important to replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts to protect your energy. If your energy seems low or feels vulnerable, here we are sharing a few tips to protect your energy.
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Don’t Engage in Drama
In the age of the internet and social media, there are many ways you might feel tempted to engage in drama or unwarranted arguments. Often, we see things on social media about other people or news that we’d prefer not to see. However, it is important to stay away from unnecessary drama and move ahead with life.
Find ways to simplify life, rather than making it complicated without reasons. Drama, arguments, anger, jealousy, and all these related emotions drain you off energy. Mind your own business.
Stop Overgiving
Some people have a hard time saying no. And it becomes a big obstacle to protect our energy when people start to take advantage of it. If you have ‘people pleasing tendencies’, take note. Being a “yes’ person is a huge energy drain! Thus, it is important to learn the difference between helping and being taken advantage of. Check the vibes you get from people and know if they really need help or are just trying to use you. In any case, put yourself ahead of others where the situation demands because you can’t be held guilty of self-love. Don’t let others use the energy you’re reserving for yourself.
Set Boundaries
You’ll come across some people in life who always talk negatively. Then find problems in every solution. Be wary and patient with these individuals. Notice negative thinking patterns and learn to keep these interactions to a minimum. Keep yourself surrounded by people who are positive and forward thinking.
Negative people who gossip, hate, or are perpetually jealous, sad, and depressed, will drain you off energy. It is okay to help, listen and be there for a friend going through a bad patch in life. But, if someone is always negative, keep a safe distance. Negativity and positivity are contagious, so choose positive.
While it may come as a surprise, meditation can help protect your energy by helping you get clarity. Meditation provides you with an intuitive power to reflect, introspect, and retrospect. Which is not only healing and soothing but also eye-opening at times.
You’ll find the answers you were looking for when you meditate unexpectedly. You’ll feel more positive, vibrant, and be full of energy when you practice meditation regularly. It would reset you mentally and physically, and ensure any negativity is wiped out.
Here is what you will earn in the free Chakra power healing master class!
Healing from Trauma
Alternative Healing
Better Self Awareness
Enhanced Intuition
Improved Spiritual Life
Manifesting Dreams
Feeling of Oneness/Connection with the Universe/Spirit
Protecting your energy is your responsibility, and in today’s time, it is more important than ever before. Whether it is a relationship that is draining you or any other form of insecurity or confusion. Make sure to find a solution.
Time is of the essence, and sooner you understand this, the better it will be for you. Because, when you don’t remedy constant energy loss, it becomes a way of life. And that will never let you achieve what you’re capable of. Or live the life YOURS is meant to be.
