5 of the Best Self-Care Quotes for Inspiration
Self-care is a hot topic, but you might find yourself wondering what is self-care and how do you get started. Self-care is anything you do to improve your physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Raise your hand if you want to feel better in all three of those areas. Read on for 5 of the best self-care quotes to inspire you to start living a life in which you put yourself at the top of your to-do list.
Why Self-Care is so Important:
Life is demanding and you have many responsibilities all of which pull your attention in a different direction. You may feel like you never have any time for yourself. You may find that you always feel exhausted or lack the motivation to do anything more than watch TV or scroll social media (gasp). You are not alone. As a society, we find it hard to justify giving ourselves space to breathe. Self-care is the opportunity to focus on yourself and your needs, which actually gives you more time, more energy, and a more positive outlook on life.
Research suggests that self-care promotes positive health outcomes, such as building resilience, a longer life span, and tools to better manage stress. Self-care is focusing on your emotional well-being, which supports better relationships with others. When you are feeling good emotionally and physically you are able to provide positivity to others.
1. “A healthy self-love means we have no compulsion to justify to ourselves or others why we take vacations, why we sleep late, why we buy new shoes, why we spoil ourselves from time to time. We feel comfortable doing things which add quality and beauty to life.” - Andrew Matthews
It is not your responsibility to make others feel comfortable with your choices for self-care. You may find that when you start to do things that feel good to you such as sleeping in or taking a nap in the middle of the day others question your actions. Remind yourself that your self-care journey is yours alone and doesn’t require any explanation. The results of the time you focus on yourself and quiet the outside critics will speak for themselves. Your family and friends will start noticing in a few months that you look different, you show up differently and will ask what you are doing. Smile and simply say, it's called Self-Care.
2. “Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love.” - Brené Brown
For all the mean girls out there, this one reminder is especially for you. Before you feel offended I was once a mean girl. Yep, couldn’t find a nice thing to say to myself. I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to be my friend as the negative voice was overwhelming. Speak to yourself with love and kindness. You are amazing, unique, and beautiful. Remind yourself of this daily and it will become your truth.
If you want more support in this area grab either one or both of these free guides: Shut Down Your Inner Mean Girl and/or Nix Negative Thinking
3. “One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself.” - Shannon L. Alder
Oh my gosh. I sat in this space for so long trying so hard to make others happy. I kept thinking if they were happy then I would be happy. Hmm, doesn’t work that way. I had to stand in my truth of who I was and what was important to me. Yes, I had to release people and things along the way, but when you find your way back home to your true self there is nothing that feels quite as good. Believe in your dreams and believe they can be yours. The desires in your heart are there for a reason. Trust the feeling despite what others think you should be doing.
4. “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” - Anne Lamott
I love a good nap. When was the last time you gave yourself the freedom to close your bedroom door in the middle of the day to take a much-needed and well-deserved rest? When was the last time you left work early just because? When was the last time you read a book for pleasure? All of these questions are a form of self-care and a way to unplug from the world even if just for a moment. Just like your computer seems to magically work again after you unplug it, you too will have a renewed energy when you give yourself a moment of solitude.
5. “Love yourself enough to set boundaries. Your time and energy are precious. You get to choose how you use it. You teach people how to treat you by deciding what you will and won’t accept.” - Anna Taylor
Yes, you can say NO. This is a favorite reminder I like to share with my clients. You get to choose how much of your time you give away and how much time you keep sacred for yourself. You know those people that constantly ask you for favors and you think why can’t they help themselves? Well, start helping yourself by saying “no” to them. Guess what happens when you say “yes” to yourself, the ones that kept asking for favors will have to learn to help themselves. Double win!
Final Thoughts
Self-care is not selfish. Self-care is a necessity to honor your own well-being and in turn, it has benefits to those around you. So while giving to yourself you are still giving to others, but without the heaviness of feeling pulled in so many directions and exhausted all the time. You have more to give with less to lose.
It can feel uncomfortable to start showing up differently. It starts with your self-talk so be sure to grab my free guide “Nix Negative Thinking”.