Management Skills I Learn Through Counselling

One of the biggest challenges in today’s society is finding time to self-care as we are either too busy with life or too busy caring for others.  Good self-care is the single most important aspect of our health, physically, mentally and emotionally.

We spend so much time nurturing others, but are we taking the time to nurture ourselves? Self-care is such an essential part of life but there doesn’t seem to be enough focus on it.  We know that life can be very demanding, work, study, families, life in general, but without taking good care of ourselves we can become stressed, anxious, depressed, exhausted, burned-out and then life becomes a struggle on a daily basis. It would be safe to say that a lot of us believe that it is “selfish” to nurture and care for ourselves. Yet it is the single biggest thing that can make a positive difference in our lives, and the lives of all those around us. When we are as healthy as we can be, we are then there for other people in our lives and its “happy days.”

​Sounds hard? Self-care means that you make time to do the things that are important to you, things that make you happy and feel good about yourself.  This will vary for each and every one of us, but may include:

• Spending time with friends and/or family socially
• Taking a weekend away or regular vacations
• Regular physical exercise, such as walking, going to the gym, yoga or any other physical exercise that you may be interested in
• Keeping abreast of your emotional and mental well-being, making time to partake in meditation or mindfulness techniques
• Reading, listening to music, watching a movie, having a massage for relaxation
• Involving yourself in a favourite hobby, such as cooking, photography or art
• Volunteering in work in your local community, helping others
• Getting enough sleep, drinking plenty of water and eating regular healthy meals
• Going to see a Counsellor for your own self-growth and well-being

When our self-care is neglected, it can become problematic in life causing such concerns as mental health issues (depression and anxiety) and/or physical health issues (blood pressure, weight gain or loss, sickness, etc).  Those of us who neglect our personal self-care usually do so because we are stressed, feeling guilty about taking time out for ourselves, feeling burned- out or overworked, lack the time or we may just lack the motivation to do so. The trouble is that, eventually the signs of poor health will surface and our well-being begins to suffer and take a decline.  If this is you, then you may need to stop and think about what you can do to make positive changes in your life that includes time for ‘YOU.’ Make self-care a priority and you’ll find that you have more energy, less stress, and have a more positive outlook on life.

If you have any other ideas of how we can self-care, I would love to hear from you and for you to share your ideas and experiences.

Sometimes we all need a hand creating positive, manageable goals and balance in your day-to-day lives. For counselling services that can help you set manageable goals, click here.