Tag: self care

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Blog Healthy Living

Finding the Courage to Make a Change

 

Change… easier said than done!

Finding the courage to make the change may sound like a simple task, but most of the time we say things to show courage but never put them in to action. Last year when I began my journey to self care, yes, it’s totally a thing that I didn’t even know that was needed in my life. It started when I read the book “Girl, Wash Your Face” while on a family cruise. Actually, I even shared the lessons learned from Girl Wash your Face to help inspire you to read the book as well. The following months were filled with books from the “personal development” section of BAM, which I used to refer to as “self help.” Self help!? Ha, I would laugh at the word and question the people who thought they needed self help?  Was it a fad or a real thing? Often I would hear words like meditate and mindfulness, which flowed in one ear and out the other. My actual thought was why would someone like me need this in my life? It’s not that I have been putting myself on the back burner for the past 15 years since I said ‘I do’ — boy, was I wrong! 

I thought that I was doing pretty good on my own, but found myself with crippling headaches, neck and jaw pain and extreme fatigue.

As I did more research on Rachel Hollis and started reading her book recommendations, I had an “aha moment” and faced the harsh truth that maybe I needed to invest some time into my self-care. Don’t get me wrong, I got my hair cut every 6 months or so and had pedicures in the summer months, but apparently that wasn’t enough for my body to feel satisfied. 

After reading multiple books, I thought that I had it all figured out and started sharing my experiences. Sharing my knowledge and trying to implement some of the tactics here and there into my life. I wasn’t really being consistent with my daily routine, but I was doing a great job sharing all of the resources in my online community. I even wrote Why you need to practice self care and would preach self-care as if it was the saving grace. However, I was talking the talk and wasn’t walking the walk.

The headaches and pains continued and one day on the phone with my sister she mentioned that maybe I should try some of the ideas that I am sharing. She totally called me out. In my mind, I thought I was trying them but batching self-care into a few hours a week just wasn’t making the cut. I was trying to sneak self care into my daily schedule and it was hit or miss and was definitely not part of my daily routine. I have read and listened over the past year to the word consistency and routine, but found myself living out the “Cliff Notes” version. Things had to change. 

Rachel Hollis recently explained during a conference that It’s not about five seconds of courage. We all can find the willpower to find five minutes of courage, we need to show up every day and build consistency to get through. Consistency is the way you hold all of it together. It doesn’t matter how intense you are, what matters is that you show up and keep showing up even when it gets hard. Create habits and routines that you can create in any environment that ultimately serve you and your lifestyle. If that means waking up a little bit earlier to meditate or exercise than try it out. It is impossible to squeeze in self-care practice here and there to reap the benefits. It actually comes down to a few things like having courage to make the change and to be consistent with it. 

Create leverage to stay consistent on the days when consistency is hard. In order to do that, it has to become a habit.  Build such incredible habits so you don’t need to get motivated. Consistency is not how you motivate yourself, but rather create habits and rituals that are so close to your core that it’s easier to do them than not.

You must have the right mindset. And you know what, if you fall off the track and steer another direction, have the grace to tell yourself “I will try again tomorrow”.

In order to do all of this you need to make the first move. As John Maxwell stated during his presentation on courage. The old riddle that says five frogs are sitting on a log. Four decide to jump off. How many are left?  

The answer is 5 because they only “decided” and didn’t take action. That was how I lived the last year of my life. Now that I am taking action, it’s an entirely different mindset. I still have a long way to go in my personal development journey, but the baby steps that I am taking each and every day has been a blessing to my health. The secret is keeping the routine — that’s a one minute mediation (still not able to move to 5), some yoga stretches, and writing down gratitude to set intention for the day. That’s not the only thing that I had to change, but it was a good start. There were also my favorite products to help reduce stress that were part of my daily routine.

Remember, we are only in control of two things in life: our attitude and our effort. So, not matter what you are looking to change in your life, it starts with a small step. Stop just sitting on the log or talking the talk. 

Find the courage to take one step forward in achieving your goals and start “walking the walk.” Come back and share your journey with us or connection with use on social media 

 

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Podcast

How to Practice Financial Self-Care with Susan Glusica

 

Susan Glusica is the UNRIVALED REALIZER, known for humanizing the fastest path to inviting in and receiving more money because she is a stand for UNAPOLOGETIC PROSPERITY. What she wants for herself, she wants for everyone! After 20 years in the “corporate cubicle” side of the financial services industry, she had a crisis of legacy and could no longer see her impact in the world and wanted proximity with clients. In order to make a bigger, bolder difference in her life and the lives of others, she founded Unrivaled Realizations LLC and created her signature group coaching program, Money Realities & Realizations. Through her discovery of the 7 Money Realities, she created a powerfully practical method for attracting and realizing more money. In 2019 she created a quick results program to add $8K+ to your bank account in 30 days or sooner.

Susan is also an international best-selling author, a Certified Speaker by Women’s Prosperity Network (WPN) and Leader of WPN’s Orange County Chapter 2016-2018. Susan resides in the scenic 4-season resort area of Northern Poconos in Pennsylvania with her husband and cat. More information found on www.susanglusica.com.

Sign up for Susan’s 7 Day More Money is a Choice Challenge 

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Categories
Blog Healthy Living

Why You Need to Practice Self-Care

Practice Self-Care and Give Yourself Grace

Stressed? Anxious? Putting yourself last? Yep, yep and yep… let’s stop and flip the switch. 

 

Let me be totally honest, over this past year, I came to the realization that I am totally stressed. Was I practicing self-care? Not as much as I should. Yes, I maybe went a few times a year for a pedicure and was getting my haircut as needed, but I was totally putting myself last. After suffering from muscle spasms and chronic headaches and after a number of tests, the doctor diagnosed me with anxiety and stress, but I am still convinced that there is more to not feeling good.So, I set out on this journey of self development or some may say ’self help’. I have been reading a ton of books,listening to podcasts, learning as much as I can with high hopes of feeling better. So, when did this all start? 

 

Recently, my husband asked me what the trigger was for my stress and I told him it was mostly likely accumulating over the past 14 years. Please don’t think that I am complaining, but this all  probably started back in my twenties. A few years after graduating from college, I got married and the following year started my teaching career. I was in my early twenties, so I went from college student to wife and then added the role of teacher to my profile.  I quickly became known as Bob’s wife and of course, Mrs. Urban in the classroom. I dove into both roles with high hopes of being “perfect” at everything. I found myself doing all the housework, cooking, bills and of course, working full time. A year later, we brought home our first child and divided myself even more. 

 

Having a child was the most wonderful experience of my life and I was going to tackle motherhood just like everything else, with 100%. You start feeling like you are losing more of your identity, but you don’t care because you love them more than life and they need you a lot. You begin to revolve your entire existence around them. I was now a mom and my world revolved this baby. You don’t really ease into the new role, it honestly happens overnight. You begin to create these habits and groves – when all you think about is the baby.  And, as I added more children to the family, it only grew worse.

Losing My Identity

My identity became that I was Lucas, Mollie & Jaxon’s mother. At the time, I was on maternity leave and home 24/7.I loved being their mother, it’s not the only part of me.

Keeping up with the day to day demands of household and lack of sleep, so of course the first thing to go was me. My interests, my rest, even when the kids are sleeping through the night, you still revolve your world around them. Keeping all the other balls in the air, wearing all the hats– I lost myself. Anything that didn’t involve them, felt mom guilt. 

 

We forget to take care of ourselves. We forget about the rest, the exercise, the time with girlfriends, getting hair done and massage. You know there is never time left over. If you are waiting for the time left over before you take care of you, you will never have it. If you don’t put yourself at the top of the priority list, you will never get that time. 

Whether you lost yourself in motherhood or your career — or maybe you are climbing the corporate ladder and working 80 hours a week, let’s talk about how you can get back to taking care of you. The most important thing you need to know is that self care is up to you and no one can do it for you. No one can make you value yourself. You, yourself, have to do it and make it a priority. Yes, it helps if you have people that help you and support you, but you are the only person who can flip the switch!

 

Plot spoiler…. If you are waiting for permission to take care of yourself, it’s not going to happen. It’s self-care for a reason. It starts with you. You are also the solution, it’s all up to you. Tough love truth-  If you feel rushed, burned out, unhappy, going through the motions, it’s probably because you have not taken care of you and the only person who can fix it is you!

 

No matter how many times that someone tells you that you look pretty, if you don’t feel pretty than you don’t act like it. When you feel bad about you, than you feel bad about everything else too. Loving your children or working hard in your business, is not a bad thing. It’s ok to have busy seasons, but if you put yourself last, than it’s a bad thing. When you act like everyone else is so important, you aren’t the only one that loses because what these people need the most is a woman in their life is happy. 

 

Self-care is more than just a bubble bath once a month, we are talking about a way of life. It’s placing valuing in yourself.  Stop waiting until you reach the breaking point before you start caring for yourself and the time that you need to be you. When you do something for yourself, even when it feels awkward, you don’t have to apologize for it.  You might be thinking, “Well, I get my hair done every three weeks and that’s my thing.”  You don’t have to have one thing once a month.  Everyone else gets all of you, but you are allowed one thing? Let me tell you, I think that you can have more than one thing. 

11 Ways to Practice Self Care

  1. Eat healthy and mindfully
  2. Keep track of your accomplishments 
  3. Express gratitude
  4. Create a cozy space 
  5. Read a book 
  6. Get moving 
  7. Unplug 
  8. Create something
  9. Build a self -care kit
  10. Say no to others, 
  11. Get organized (that may be with meal planning or just getting rid of clutter around the house). 

When you take care of yourself and do things that give you joy, everyone else benefits. I am not saying neglect anyone, I am saying it’s ok to give yourself a break and slow down. It’s going to help you chase your dreams, to be a joy-filled woman. 

When you do these things that make you slow down, that makes you happy, that things that give you joy, that make you confident, and make you like yourself- everything around you changes. Not only are you better for everyone, but you will enjoy life more. 

What is it for you? What gives you joy? What gives you energy? What is your passion? What fills your tank? Only you know what these things are… Make a list, on your phone or leave it by your bedside.  As you start to identify those things that you need, start to integrate them into your life on a weekly or daily basis. 

Not once a year on your bday, or a holiday – how can you create new habits in your life where there is another important priority in your world besides your family or work. Make yourself a priority. You are now a priority in your own life! On this week’s podcast, we heard from Tina McGovern on Giving Yourself Grace. Some of her ideas can totally relate to self care and are at the top of my list.