Why do I struggle with self care? Have you ever asked yourself this question? It’s common to experience self-care procrastination, even when we know exactly what needs to be done.
It’s a frustrating cycle of making promises to ourselves, only to break them the very next day. In this article, I’ll explore why we struggle with self-care and share strategies that have worked for me in overcoming this challenge.
By developing powerful habits, you can keep your promises and prioritize self-care in your daily life.
Why Self-Care Can Feel Like a Struggle
When you think about taking care of yourself, it can feel like a struggle. After all, why can’t you do what you know is best for you?
It’s not that we don’t have the best intentions when it comes to self-care – we do! But it’s often the case that some kind of fear and self-sabotage swoop in and keep us from making progress.
At its core, this fear is related to our sense of self-worth. On a deep level, we often don’t feel that we deserve to take time for ourselves or invest in our own well-being. That lack of self-worth keeps us from engaging in meaningful activities that could improve our lives and ultimately make us happier.
We don’t want to admit that there may be an inner saboteur lurking within. But the truth is, understanding why self-care can feel like a struggle is an essential first step toward taking better care of yourself and living your best life.
How to Identify Your Self-Care Obstacles
Self-sabotage can take many forms—but more often than not, it’s rooted in one of two possible causes: fear or lack of clarity.
Let’s start with fear. Fear of failure, fear of judgment, fear of discomfort—all these can be roadblocks to achieving our goals. If we don’t address and work through our fears, our goals may never materialize no matter how badly we want them. Learning how to identify and work through your fears is the first step in breaking down barriers to self-care.
On the other hand, lack of clarity can also cause procrastination on taking care of ourselves. If you’re stuck in a “self-care limbo” where you don’t know what to do or where to start, it can be difficult to take the first step. Get clear on what you want to accomplish and break it down into smaller tasks that can be completed and built upon each day; this will make taking action simpler and less overwhelming. Having a plan and a clear path forward provides a great foundation for sustained motivation and progress over time.
Overcoming Fear of Failure and Perfectionism
Do you feel like a perfectionist when it comes to self-care? It could be that fear of failure is holding you back. It’s totally understandable—you want to do things perfectly and maybe even impress others with your achievements. Basically, you don’t want to fail, so it can be easier to procrastinate or not even try in the first place.
Natural human response
It’s natural for us to feel this way—no one wants to fail. We may put a lot of pressure on ourselves and make unrealistic demands of what should be achieved in order to feel good about ourselves. But this kind of thinking can create feelings of guilt and stress that are counterproductive and make matters worse.
Countering perfectionism
Rather than trying to do everything perfectly, it is better to focus on building habits that become second nature and just starting small. Start by implementing the habit into your lifestyle gradually until it becomes more natural — things like setting small goals, taking breaks throughout the day, getting more sleep or just taking some time for yourself each day are all habits that can help you stay motivated in the long run. After all, progress not perfection is key!
The Art of Saying No & Prioritizing Self-Care
Do you ever find yourself saying yes to things that you don’t really want to do? It’s easy to get pulled in a million different directions, leaving little energy or motivation for taking care of yourself.
However, the art of saying no holds the key to making progress in self-care. It’s not always easy, but it is necessary if you want to prioritize your own well-being over other obligations.
One way to practice this is by taking time for yourself each morning and/or evening — even if it’s just 5 or 10 minutes. That space can be used for checking in with your physical and mental state, planning out what self-care steps you’d like to take throughout the day, and writing down any positive affirmations that come up for you.
By taking a few minutes each day for self-reflection and affirmations, your day will have purpose and intention — making it easier for you to say no to unimportant tasks or commitments. Plus, your mind will become clearer about what’s important and worth your energy.
So start practicing saying “no” without feeling guilty or like others won’t understand why — because it’s (and always will be) much more important than anything else.
The Benefits of Taking Good Care of Yourself
We all know the benefits of taking good care of yourself: a healthier body and mind, more energy and vitality, and improved general well-being. But sometimes, it seems hard to muster the motivation to do something that would benefit us greatly in the long run.
So why do we procrastinate when it comes to self-care? It could be because doing something for ourselves can seem like a selfish act, or because we feel it’s an extra burden in an already packed schedule. Or maybe our inner self tells us we’re not worthy of taking good care of ourselves.
The bottom line is that, regardless of what holds us back from taking action, we are worth investing in, and taking good care of ourselves is an important part of leading a healthy life. So next time you find yourself falling into the trap of procrastination regarding your own well-being, take a moment to remind yourself that you’re worth it and make time for self-care – even if it’s just five minutes here and there.
Practical Strategies for Making Self-Care Stick
When it comes to making self-care sticks, practical strategies are your best bet. Here are four simple things you can do to make sure your commitments to self-care don’t get lost in the mix:
- Be realistic. Don’t put superfluous expectations on yourself, or assume that you can do too much at once. Start small and build your way up.
- Set reminders. If you’re prone to forgetting your goals or commitments, set reminders with alarms and sticky notes.
- Hold yourself accountable. Find an accountability partner or group — this could be a friend, family member, or online community — who will help you stay on track and motivated to keep going.
- Reward yourself when you reach milestones or accomplish goals — this simple act of self-affirmation can help keep you motivated and give you the boost of confidence needed to stay on course!
These are just a few practical strategies for making self-care stick — but the real secret is finding the motivation within yourself to do it all in the first place!
Conclusion
After taking a look at the intention behind procrastination and understanding what’s really going on when we put off taking care of ourselves, it’s clear that our self-care procrastination has a lot to do with our beliefs about our worth and our ability to thrive. We have to have a lot of self-compassion and be willing to accept that we are enough and that we are worth it.
We have to go beyond the surface level of trying to implement self-care tactics and dig deeper into the core of what’s really keeping us from taking care of ourselves. It’s time to unlearn the false messages that have been taught to us and make space for self-care in our lives. We all deserve to thrive.
