As New Year’s Eve approaches and you make plans to go to dinner soirees, parties that will last until the sun emerges, and small gatherings with close friends, don’t forget about you. There will be so many moments in the new year that you face without outside help from friends and family and that’s why it’s so important to be rooted in self-love. Here are a few self-care strategies you can use as you kick off 2019.
Step 1: SELF-CARE DAY
Dedicate one day a month as self-care day and stick to it. Once a week is unrealistic for some people so start with one day a month. Make sure you do whatever you want. Go to dinner, the movies, meditate, read books, or go dancing. Just make sure you are the only one making the decisions on your care day.
Step 2: EMOTIONS
Be conscious of your emotions. When you get happy, angry, or sad stop and ask yourself what triggered it. Don’t be harsh or hard on yourself, just take a gentle notice. It helps builds awareness which can aid in your growth.
Step 3: A DREAM JAR
Create a dream jar. Get a Mason jar or any decorative jar and keep sticky notes and a pen near it at all times. When you get an idea for a future passion or anything you want to achieve, write it down with the date and drop it in the jar. Every 6 months or so go through your sticky notes as motivation to keep going and to reflect and see if anything has come to fruition.
Step 4: A PLANT
Buy a plant and write your name on it in large print. The point is for you to nurture, talk to, and take care of your plant to serve as a reminder of how you should always be gentle and nurturing with yourself.
Step 5: MINI JOURNALING
We live in a very busy society and there isn’t always time for long journal entries so why not try mini journaling. Get a small notebook and keep it in your purse. Use it to write a few sentences in once a week or whenever you feel like it and date each page. It is a great outlet and can be very therapeutic.