6th July 2024
Are you the most important person in your life?
How often do you make time for yourself?
Conventional wisdom centers around giving more of yourself to others in your life, than you would to, what you want to accomplish.
You’re taught to make sacrifices and put your needs secondary because that’s how you’ll become a better person.
However, not making yourself a priority is keeping you from accomplishing your goals & getting more done.
In my life, I can only think of a handful of times I have intentionally put myself first.
But for some time now, I finally took a step and realized my family, friends & associates are amazing people, and they would also prefer that I get everything in control than spiral to a point of no return.
At first, I felt guilty for some of the changes I had made in my life; “my friends/family need me” went through my head with every text I didn’t return and every issue I chose to ignore.
Let me know if this sounds familiar, You work hard all day to accomplish your goals. During your moments of focus, there are requests from others & demands from outside, which leads to distractions on your time.
You start each day with a to-do list of items that you want to accomplish. By the time you come to the end of your day, you haven’t completed what you wanted. If you were to analyze your time, you would see that the reason is you’re constantly being distracted.
There’s a significant difference between being selfish and being self-centered.
I won’t give you the analogy that you hear every time you get on an airplane, but if you’re going to accomplish your goals, you have to stop drowning—in a figurative sense.
The reality is that if you’re giving more of yourself to others than you are giving to your goals and vision of the future, By not making yourself a priority, your goals will become secondary.
The key to getting more done starts with taking care of yourself first and foremost.
When you make yourself a priority, not only do you benefit, but so do the people around you.
If you are burned out, stressed out or overloaded, what’s left to give to others?
For some, the idea of making yourself a priority may feel uncomfortable, but it is not a selfish act.
I’m not suggesting you ignore or abandon the needs of others. I’m saying that you need to take better care of yourself and be the very best you can be, for yourself, and for the people in your life.
You should not feel guilty for choosing to do so, as you are the most important person in your life!
So how does one exactly make themselves a priority? It’s tough, and not something that happens overnight.
After a couple of months of making a conscious effort, I am finally starting to see changes in how I do things or place myself mentally.
I have always been a “yes” person. Standing firm by saying No at times & not over-committing myself has given me the mental breaks I need.
I grew up loving books and all things fiction. In recent years, though, books that are self-help, introspective, or all about personal development have been what I have been giving more of my time to. They make me think and reassess myself and my day-to-day life!
Making yourself a real priority in your daily life can take time and for some, it can feel like a huge challenge.
If you find that you’re always putting everyone else’s needs before your own and you are running on empty, it’s time to reassess.
This weekend, at least, make yourself a priority & stay blessed forever.