#TreatYoSelf | Guide to Self-Care & Self-Love

During these unprecedented times, practicing self-love and self-care is more important than ever.

The practice of self-care and self-love is not part of our hustle and bustle way of life. We are inherently programmed to care for others; children, family, friends, and loved ones for the human race genes going. So, I am here to tell you, I cannot change the course of human evolution to keep us fro our survival, but I can say that self-care and self-love are a top to do on the list of essential things to consider. If you don't take care of yourself, how will you take care of others? It also builds confidence and reduces anxiety, and taking on more challenging days more manageable.

We are currently working our butt off to earn a paycheck to attempt to climb the corporate ladder and make a name of ourselves, to keeping to the grind to ensure so we make the money to take care of others. Most of the time, we tend to forget to stop, take a step back, breathe, and put our well-being first.

Putting our needs first may sound selfish; it's not. Self-care is so vital to our well-being because it allows us to rest, relax, and refocus. We approach self-care as a treat and something we do on occasion and don't consider it part of our daily process.

Here are some ways to get self-care and self-love back in your life again:

Balance What You Got - Honestly, there is no such thing as work, life, balance. All you can do is do the best you can with what you got. That is why it is crucial to control your time and to set up reminders and invites for yourself, yes, invites for your self-care. It can be an event to take a hike every Saturday morning to see the sunrise, getting your nails done, or even making a phone call to catch up with a friend. Instilling these self-care habits that help you reset your energy ensures that you stay sharp, motivated, and healthy.

Be In Control of Stress - A certain amount of pressure can be a benefit for you. It helps give us nudges to finished tasks before deadlines and give us more focus on to things that are important to us in life. However, before allowing constant stress and anxiety can harm your mental and physical health, be in control of your stress. Take the precautionary steps to plan out your day, week, and month of the things you can control - try not to procrastinate (a huge culprit to stress). Things are so much easier to manage when we know what to expect but remember that if things don't go as planned, it's okay; pivot and readjust - all of this takes practice; it will all work out.

Fall in Love With Yourself - As you follow the processes of taking care of yourself, the care's momentum into loving yourself will follow with a few small reminders. But what is the difference between the two? Self-care is about taking care of your physical states, whereas self-love is taking care of your psychological state.

Know Your Self-Worth - Self-love is necessary to remind yourself of you and others of your worth. Your needs are essential too. Take the time to give yourself positive affirmations. Count the blessings in your life. Stay close to things that make you happy and distance yourself from anything that is not constructively helpful and negative. In this world, negativities are everywhere. People will talk you down sometimes, even those we consider close to us, then we fall into a spiral and lose ourselves in backlash. We forget that. Remember, we are in control of the situation, we are in control of our emotions, and we can come out of it this more worthy than ever before as long as we know that no one else's opinions matter than that of our own. You are worthy, and you are loved.

Show Yourself Compassion - We all critiques things that we don't like about ourselves and, at times, lead to causing us to feel shame, insecure, or that we are not "good enough." Let me tell you if it's one thing you get out of all of this - let that mindset go. You are good enough. It's hard enough to beat yourself down in a world already full of trolls. Instead, build yourself up and write the things you have already accomplished and lessons learned from mistakes. You will be surprised at how quickly the great stuff adds up, and the lessons you learned open up other opportunities that may help prepare you for a better version of yourself down the road. Be proud and grateful for these experiences, and know you got what it takes to add more to the list.

In final, remember, if you ever feel down and don't believe that you're not unique or have anything special to give to this world, I need you to take a step back and breathe in and out slowly and know this - you are everything and a bag of chips. You bring so much to this world because there nothing else uniquely you. So, love, you got this and know you are amazing. Don't forget that.