Be honest. How many times a day do you feel perplexed, rushed, and anxiety-ridden due to your constant to-do lists? And how often do you give yourself time to just breathe?
One of the unhealthy habits of today’s culture is the overwhelming feeling of never having enough time to check everything off our list, even though it’s completely self-imposed.
Don’t you agree?
People are willingly becoming slaves to their devices (laptops, cellphones, iPhones, tablets, etc.) that impose a sense of obligation and a feeling of never doing well enough.
They put their own well-being and self-love on the back burner, for the sake of chasing some sort of power to give them a sense of fulfillment that seldom comes.
Time-management can be tricky, but when you set your priorities right and give yourself time to grow, it is 100% doable.
See also: Trust Me, You Are Exactly Where You Need To Be Right Now
Why Is It SO Important To Take It Easy On Yourself?
If you don’t, eventually, you will burn out. And then, all of the unending tasks, schedules, lists, and chores will have been for nothing.
As I often say, you are your most important investment. Therefore, your personal growth should top your priority list.
Not work, not others’ expectations of you, and most importantly – not your own, self-imposed rules on what you should be doing.
This is what I find so funny about people. We give love to our friends, families, and partners so easily. We are appalled when they sell themselves short. Yet, we do it to ourselves all the time!
We put everyone else before ourselves. We don’t stop to smell the roses because there’s never enough time. We never stop, no matter how badly we need a break.
We risk deteriorating our mental health for the sake of being seen as an accomplished, can-do-it-all type of person who is dying on the inside.
Don’t you see how damaging this is? You don’t need a life coach to explain to you how much this will eventually cost you.
Put yourself in your best friend’s shoes. If they never stopped for a second, and they kept pushing themselves beyond their limits, what would you tell them? (I’m pretty sure I already know.)
Now, tell yourself that exact thing and listen to your own advice. Be present in your life. Be a good partner, sibling, parent, co-worker, and friend! At the end of the day, those are the things that matter most.
In your last days, you won’t be contemplating how successful, accomplished, or rich you were.
You’ll be pondering how much of an impact you have left in the lives of your nearest and dearest.
Doesn’t that put things into perspective? Doesn’t that make you want to slow down, take it easy, and go back to the real values?
And guess what? All it takes is willpower and dedication to become that person. One who puts self-love first, and obeying orders second.
It is so important to learn to love yourself the way you love your favorite people. And it is completely possible to juggle multiple things without losing yourself in the process.
When you take care of your mind, body, and soul, you will learn what deserves your attention, and what doesn’t. It will become so easy to carve out time for yourself without feeling an ounce of guilt.
And I am going to help you get there.
See also: What Happens When The Narcissist Knows You Have Figured Him Out?
Learning to Give Yourself The Love You Deserve
Learning to shower yourself with love will increase your self-esteem and help you figure out how to do it all without burning out!
It all starts with your attitude toward your own self. The way you treat yourself will translate into your everyday life and how much you put on your plate daily.
If you are on the verge of breaking down as your pervasive schedule and non ending obligations are drowning you, this is for you!
Here’s how you successfully juggle it all while putting yourself first.
Build some much-needed self-respect
Be your own biggest supporter and respect your own damn self.
Your shortcomings don’t define you. It’s how you build yourself back up that does. Keep that in mind every time you sell yourself short.
Be constructive when picking at your flaws. Don’t get self-destructive, but rather find ways in which you can improve.
We are all flawed. We all make mistakes. That doesn’t mean we’re not on the right track.
Without experiencing occasional failures, it’s hard to appreciate success. Without faltering and learning to pick yourself up, you never truly learn to value the importance of perseverance.
Think about that next time you’re being too hard on yourself. It takes a strong person to admit your faults, especially to remain kind to yourself in the midst of it.
Grow a thick skin and learn to treat yourself with the same respect you treat those who matter most to you.
Contemplate this. If they knew how little respect you had for yourself, what would they tell you? Let this help you learn how to give yourself time, love, and space when you need it.
Never stop discovering new things about yourself
We are all unique individuals, all with our own strengths, weaknesses, and whatnot. No two people on this earth are exactly the same.
How awesome is that? This means that there is no one out there who could offer what you can. You have your own set of strengths that you’re most likely not even aware of!
Let that keep you in pursuit of what makes you who you are. Keep evolving, maturing, and finding new things you didn’t know about yourself.
Allow yourself to branch out and try new things. Don’t limit yourself – you can do so much more than you give yourself credit for.
This is of utmost importance. When you think about it, we are all a limited edition.
And when you carefully pinpoint your own advantages and drawbacks, you’ll understand which part of yourself you need to spend most of your time on.
One thing you should never forget is this: People constantly change, as it all depends on their surroundings, environment, and people around us.
Chances are you are often going to uncover new things you’d never in a million years think would apply to you.
Accept and acknowledge who you are unequivocally
In order to truly accept the essence of yourself, first, you must acknowledge yourself.
And you must to it whole-heartedly, because if you don’t, what does it even mean? Understand who you are in all of your core and embrace it.
Don’t turn into your own enemy by constantly focusing on the bad things. We all have those. Acknowledge them, then turn to every little good thing that makes you special.
You are kind, forgiving, and always ready to help. Yeah, you can rush to judgment at times, but who doesn’t?
Moreover, you are all hands on deck when there’s an emergency, and you’d give anything for those you care for.
As important as it is to acknowledge the uncomfortable parts of ourselves, it’s just as crucial to be able to give yourself time to realize those don’t make us who we are.
We are a collection of our failures, successes, and tiny victories. Think about yourself as a whole – the things you’ve been through and how much you’ve learned in the process.
And now, love every single part of yourself that has made you the person you are today. If you don’t, who will?
See also: The Power Of Walking Away From A Man: Let Him See What He Lost
Think about how much you can still achieve if you pace yourself
But all in a timely manner. Learn to ignore that little voice inside your head pressuring you to do everything at once; that’s not healthy.
It doesn’t matter what you see on someone’s social media feed. Nobody became famous, successful, and accomplished overnight.
Nobody juggles family life, work-life, and countless obligations with a smile on their face. Just because people post only about the good stuff, doesn’t mean they didn’t put blood, sweat, and tears into it.
Let that sink in as you navigate your life. Pace yourself and things will slowly fall into place. Spend time wisely on things that truly matter.
There is so much left to do if you give yourself the time you need. Love yourself enough to stop putting insane amounts of pressure on yourself.
With a cool, calm, and collected head, you can achieve so much more than by rushing everything without giving yourself a second to breathe.
There’s a lot of fire inside you, but if you try to do it all at once, you’ll burn out. The future is yours for the taking, but only if you take it one step at a time.
Nurture happy, healthy, fulfilling personal relationships
Life’s not all about work and being at the top of your game. In the grand scheme of things, it matters, of course.
But developing and maintaining meaningful personal relationships is what gives life meaning, be it with your parents, siblings, cousins, friends, or co-workers.
Make sure you have those people who will ground you and humble you. Make sure you have somebody who will talk you down off a (metaphorical) cliff should you ever need them to.
Without the people in your life, your entire life’s work would amount to nothing. Why? Because the thought of having no one to share it with would devastate you.
So don’t let it happen! There is nothing more fulfilling than sharing your life and everything in it with the people who make it all worthwhile.
Without having anyone to come home to, it would all be meaningless. People make life bearable. Not work, not material things, and not fancy titles.
It’s all about personal relationships, connectedness, and a sense of belonging. That’s the one thing we all have in common. We all crave to belong somewhere.
Take care of your own individual needs
It is virtually impossible to be truly at peace with yourself without meeting all of your needs. Be it psychological or physical. You must give yourself time to tend to all of your needs.
This is all the more reason to just take a minute to reflect.
– How happy are you at this very moment?
– How much time do you take out of your busy day to dedicate to yourself with no interruptions?
– How often do you exceed your limitations for the sake of someone else’s well-being?
– And how long do you think you can keep up at this pace without crashing and burning?
After having carefully read and honestly answered these, think long and hard how you should proceed. Do changes need to be implemented?
Do you tend to put others first? Are your limitations often surpassed? And what can you do to change all that?
Your needs matter. How you feel matters so much. Stop pleasing others and putting your needs on the back burner. Start taking care of yourself today.
If you keep postponing it, it’s never going to happen. Be your own best friend for once. It’s the only way to make it through.
It’s admirable when you selflessly help others when they need you, but it’s even more admirable when you decide to help yourself!
See also: My Mom Is My Hero And Here Are 10 Amazingly Sweet Reasons Why
Don’t let people take advantage of your kindness
There will always be people in your life who will take everything you do for granted. People who will never know to appreciate all you do for them and keep asking for more.
Learn to recognize them, and discard them without giving it a second thought.
These people are energy-sucking moochers whose sole purpose is testing the limits of good, kind-hearted people (you).
Whether it’s a seemingly simple task or a really big favor, they’ll ask it as if it’s nothing. And for as long as you keep saying yes, they’ll keep coming back for more.
This needs to end now. Give yourself time to process what you’re being asked and feel free to say no. It’s okay to have boundaries. Moreover, it’s mandatory.
Without them, how will people know when enough is enough? And once you set your boundaries, it will become clear that you’re not the kind of person who’ll keep letting it slide.
You may have been in the past. But now, you’re turning over a new leaf that’s all about self-respect and self-love.
Whoever doesn’t like it never loved you anyway! And those who respect it are the most loyal people you’ll ever know!
Don’t overwhelm yourself & recognize what truly matters in a particular moment
As unfortunate as it is when bad things happen (illness, somebody close to you dying, or anything serious enough to stop you in your tracks), it immediately puts things into perspective.
The moment you’re faced with an extremely upsetting thing, it all becomes so clear.
Everything that doesn’t really matter is immediately put on the back burner, and the thing that truly matters is clearer than ever. You don’t even second-guess it; it’s just so painfully obvious.
The only thing that matters is that particular person or whatever it is that’s going on in your life that demands your full attention.
It’s kind of sad that bad things have to happen for us to see how much unnecessary pressure we put on ourselves.
But when this happens, we suddenly come to a realization. Everything we spent so much time on – worrying, being anxious, and all the sleepless nights – it was all so unimportant.
What matters is the thing in front of you. That’s it. Not your to-do lists, not chasing that promotion, and not being the best in your cardio class.
And at that moment, you’ll just get it. You will suddenly understand the true, undeniable essence of life.
See also: 12 Reasons Why A Coffee Date Is Actually The Best First Date Idea
In Conclusion
I sincerely hope that now you’re able to see just how vital learning to give yourself time and love truly is.
You are the author of the book of your life’s journey, and as such, you are in charge of how it all unravels. How your life pans out depends entirely on you.
The world around you is always going to seem to be going faster than you can deal with. But if you don’t teach yourself to slow down and understand what really matters, eventually, you’ll pay the price.
Are you going to be the victim of your demanding schedule or are you going to learn to prioritize things?
You can be successful at your job and still have enough time to be creative, passionate, and present in your personal life.
It’s all about balance and learning what deserves your full attention and what can be put on pause.
And something tells me that your priorities are about to change for the better.
