Do you take care of everyone else in your life first, only to realize that you have no time left for yourself?
It’s tempting to put the needs of others before your own; it doesn’t require discipline, thought or self-reflection. “Let me quickly take care of this and then I’ll have time to do …”
The problem is that once you are done taking care of everything and everyone else, you’ve lost the desire and the energy to play and explore what matters to you.
It can happen to all of us. When I lose my balance my priorities get all mixed up: I start to worry about the smallest details; I become more insecure, needier, and feel less happy. All of a sudden, I wonder if what I wanted to accomplish was really such a good idea and whether I should wait until another day to tackle it. It’s as if I lose my liveliness and the juice to be me.
Keeping your balance and drawing from your own happiness – rather than waiting for others to provide that balance for you – requires boldness, courage, and discipline. Often it’s easier to say yes than no. It takes guts to take a stand for what’s important to you. You have to think hard about what you want and then go after it. You have to face fear, maybe rejection. What if you pursue a dream that doesn’t work out in the end? Well, it might happen. But you know what? Even that feels good because you had the courage to try.
If you noticed that your priorities have taken a back seat, do this fun little exercise to get your balance back.
Put Yourself First Exercise
Make a list of all the activities that make you happy. This can be anything, big or small, that puts a smile on your face. Creating a new business project for example, enjoying fresh flowers on your kitchen table, working in the garden, sleeping in, starting a blog, having coffee with a friend, going on a long run along the beach, planning a date night with your hubby, reading a captivating novel, having alone time, etc.
Now, take one of the activities and put them into action right away. Buy that novel you are dying to read, schedule the date night with your husband, go to wordpress.com and set up a blog or call your friend to meet for coffee.
I love this exercise because it’s such an instant mood buster and gives you an opportunity to remember yourself again.
As always, thank you for reading.
Karin
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Once you’ve taken action, share your insights with us in the comments below or simply write to me. I always love hearing from you.
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Photo Source: Sushi Ina via Flickr under a Creative Commons License
