When you show up for yourself incredible things happen. Showing up may not look like what you think, it’s more about getting rid of things that don’t serve you than taking on new aspects of your life. Here are four ways to consistently show up for yourself.
Remove things that don’t serve you
One of the best ways to show up for yourself is actually to remove the things that don’t serve you. This may look like people, places, routines or physical objects in your life.
First, start with the basics and understand what your goals are. If you need help with this I have a free goal setting workbook you can get here. When you know what your goals are, it’s much easier to make decisions about what is serving you.
Evaluate your current daily routines. Do you have items built in each day that don’t get you closer to your goals? Remember that goals are not just professional desires but also personal desires. It’s ok to have daily things that fit in your personal life as well.
Outside of your leisure time, if you have things that don’t serve your personal or professional life, find a way to offload them or get rid of them altogether. There’s a good chance you don’t need them in your life to begin with.
Remember to understand the difference between staying busy and being productive. I like creating priority lists vs to do lists. You can read more about them here.
Write down everything you do on a daily basis and make two columns; one that says “busy” and the other “productive.” Busy items are anything that counts as moving things around but not actually achieving anything.
After you’ve done this, add each item in your daily routine to whichever category it falls under. If you have more in the “busy” section, reevaluate what you should be doing to be more productive and less busy.
There’s a good chance whatever you need to cross off that list will not hurt your days anyway.
Say no to new things to show up for yourself
Saying no is a huge way to show up for yourself. This is taking the first step we discussed and implementing it into every new decision going forward.
Understanding your anchors and goals will help you decide whether something should be a yes or no.
Anchors are the things in your life you live for. For me, it’s my family, faith, happiness and fulfillment. If a new opportunity shows up in my life it will either do one of two options: it will serve my anchors and goals or it will deter them.
I’m not telling you to become so crazy rigid with everything that you have no time left for fun, I’m simply stating that if you’re trying to further your goals, understand how to show up for yourself by saying yes or no when it’s appropriate.
Prioritize your mental health
This one is huge for me. I can’t show up for myself if I don’t prioritize my mental health.
This topic has been sort of taboo in the past but I’m glad it’s getting so much more attention present day. I do believe we have a long way to go but we are starting to get somewhere!
Often times people don’t realize that mental health is just as important as physical health. If we’re not in a good headspace, we can’t show up for ourselves or others.
I’ve struggled with anxiety for most of my adult life. It’s taken years to realize some of it has come from unfortunate events in my life and the rest has come from working in a career that was completely unfulfilling.
I know now that creating routines and habits helps prioritize my mental health. I’ve built in time each day to move my body for at least 30 minutes, have at least an hour of quiet time to myself (usually in the morning before the kids are up), and build in time to explore creative freedom, whether that means drawing, creating digital art/content or whatever I’m feeling creatively for the day.
Optimize your eating routines to show up for yourself
This is another big one. It took me a long time to understand it’s not only about what you eat but about when you eat it as well.
Food was meant to nourish our bodies and fuel our minds. Personally, I have to eat every 2-3 hours or my system starts to crash.
I also learned that I have a gluten and dairy intolerance because I had major stomach, brain fog and anxiety issues while consuming it. You can learn more about that here.
For a week, write down everything you eat each day and how you feel after eating each meal or snack. Does it fuel you and help you focus? Or does it make you feel miserable and want to nap?
Food has so much more of an effect on our bodies and minds than we realize.
Here are a few tips:
- Eat three meals and three snacks a day
- Eat every 2-3 hours
- Eat lots of greens, protein and whole grains
- If you have skin issues or stomach issues, try removing gluten and maybe even dairy from your diet for a week and see what happens, always consult your doctor for major lifestyle changes
Summary
When you show up for yourself your life can drastically change for the better. It’s easy to get caught up in the lulls of our day to day routines but consciously focusing on what we do will make all the difference.
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