I’m contemplating a dramatic shift in my self-care routine. Like many women, my schedule is chock-full of work and taking care of a mountain of needs—usually the needs of others above my own. When I do carve out time for daily soul needs time it’s usually at night after all else is attended to.
Like Cinderella, I can take care of me if I get all of my other chores done first.
IF…
When I refer to self-care in this post, I’m not talking only about exercise, though that is a hugely important self-care need for both my body and my mind. I’ve learned long ago that if exercise isn’t the very first thing I do in the morning, it won’t happen at all. That’s just what works for me. If I do it first, it eliminates the excuses and circumvents the day taking over with its endless demands.
This post is about a different kind of self-care: internal self-care. 
I suspect this is common for many midlife women, but as I age I notice how intertwined my “life zones” are now. (This is a big part of my COURSE CORRECT program and why I designed it as a 90-Day program that tackles all areas of your life. It’s because each zone affects the others!) Taking care of my BODY affects my MIND, which affects my RELATIONSHIPS, etc.
ALL CONNECTED
There’s an indisputable link from every part of our lives to the others.
Lately, I’m especially noticing how dependent my happiness is on doing the internal work of being happy. The spirit work. When we’re younger, we often work on our happiness from the outside in. How we look, what we do, who we know… Now, I’m sensing that it’s really the other way around; that true happiness in all areas of life is not possible if I don’t first tend to my inner life.
By habit, I’ve made the needs of my body an “am” thing, while the needs of my spirit have been a “pm” thing; something I do when the world quiets down and I can retreat to the sanctuary of my bedroom. Guess what usually happens, though… I fall asleep within minutes! I snooze, I lose! More often than not, those deeper needs of my soul (reading positive books, journaling, gratitude journaling, etc.) are set aside for the very real need of sleep.
I began to think that if I re-prioritized, then I’d be sure to have a better version of self-care on a daily basis. I would find a way to make sure that my outer AND my inner lives were tended to.
All that I do flows from me, outward. Seems obvious, but we often forget that if we aren’t at our healthiest and happiest, then that affects every single area of our lives.
Our success in life (however we define it) depends on the quality and consistency of our self-care from the inside out.
My newest idea (’cause I’m all about trying new things and tweaking my world to see what works best for me) is to get up earlier and combine my physical routine with my inner routine. I can wake earlier and start my workday just a bit later.
(The perk of being an author/blogger/freelancer is that I can dictate much of my own schedule.) I created a post about How to Start YOUR own blog if you’re interested in the blogging life and want to make your own fun, freedom, and extra money.)
If I put my needs first thing each morning, then perhaps I won’t end each day with regret. Put on our own oxygen mask first, right? Two of my life zones: BODY and SPIRIT will already be off to a great start each day!
For more info on your life zones and how to get them firing on all cylinders, check out Course Correct.
I’m going to start my new routine right away and see where it takes me. I’ll report back! If you’re with me, we can be the “5 am Soul Needs Club.” 🙂
How about you? Is there a tweak or two you can make to your routine that will ensure a happier, healthier you? I’d love to hear about it!
In the meantime, I want to recommend a book that really tackles this idea of self-care in a loving and inspirational way:
Till we meet again,
Tracy
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