Here's Why You Need to Practice Sustainable Self-Care in 2022
What do you think of when you hear the word steady? Steady is defined as firmly fixed, supported, or balanced. That last word, balanced, is why I chose steady as my 2022 word of the year. One of my many goals this year is to balance practicing discipline vs. grace in all areas of my life, including self-care. So we're exploring new depths of self-care in 2022 and my hope is that we grow together!
But what exactly is self-care? How does the dictionary define it and what does self-care look like in our daily lives? Google says that self-care is the practice of taking action to preserve or improve one's own health. I actually agree with this definition. Self-care is about nurturing, developing, and encouraging one's self.
"It is so important to take time for yourself and find clarity. The most important relationship is the one you have with yourself.”
diane von furstenberg
Before we can dive deeper into self-care in 2022, let's talk about the types of self-care.
(Just a heads up, this post contains affiliate links, which means that I may earn commission if you choose to make a purchase!)
Self-Care Categories
I like to think of self-care in eight different categories. (Shoutout to my friend and sister Tone from Plan with Tone for the categories):
Practical Self-Care: the actions we take to every day for our core needs; those simple yet mighty tasks we do to reduce stress and center our lives.
Professional Self-Care: the actions we take to balance, develop, and improve our work life, whether searching for a more fulfilling job, finding a healthy work-life balance, or strengthening our work skills.
Mental Self-Care: the actions we take to clear and stimulate our mind and practice mindfulness. Our daily habits and routines can declutter our minds, reduce stress, increase creativity, and develop self-awareness.
Emotional Self-Care: the actions we take to regulate and cope with our emotions to handle the highs and lows of life.
Financial Self-Care: the actions we take to develop financial literacy and habits, including developing a healthy mindset and habits around money.
Social Self-Care: the actions we take to nurture and develop the relationships with family and friends in our lives.
Physical Self-Care: the actions we take to enhance our physical well-being, such as listening to your body and tending to your needs with a healthy balance of physical activity, check-ins, and rest.
Spiritual Self-Care: the actions we take to connect with our soul and the universe, no matter the specific faith.
Daunting, right? I used to get overwhelmed thinking about these categories from pressure to improve my habits in all areas and at the same time. Sounds familiar? If so, then you're like me. Try focusing on three categories at one time and do your best with the others. For example, quarter 1 of 2022 for me is all about financial, professional, physical goals. The rest can wait until I accomplish or at least make some progress in the rest of these areas.
If you're new to self-care goals, pick three of the eight categories and jot down a few goals! (More self-care goal planning tips to come! I wrote about self-care in this post if you want to pick your goals now.)
What's next in 2022?
Great, you have your self-care and other goals for 2022 (or maybe you don't but keep reading I promise). But what's next? Those goals should become your action steps. Then it's time to be consistent and dedicated to achieving those steps. The key is to be consistent and dedicated in a sustainable way. In this community, we support the sustainable grind and productivity lifestyle only! When we approach our goals in a sustainable way, we can avoid those things that stop us from achieving our goals, like laziness, boredom, or burnout.
Okay, but how do we approach our goals in a sustainable way?
Seems obvious, right? The missing link standing between us and our goals is how we approach those goals. If we approach our goals in a way that is organized & intentional, our habits and routines are sustainable and we can avoid those inhibitors like laziness, boredom, or burnout. In other words, we need sustainable self-care practices so that we can not only achieve but SURPASS our goals.
That's where The 12 Week Year comes in! I read this book in 2021 and it completely changed the way I approach my goals. In fact, the tips from the book helped me to choose sustainable self-care practices in the latter half of 2021. I achieved most of my goals in the last few months of 2021 because I approached them sustainably.
So stay tuned! For Q1, we're chatting about The 12 Week Year and how we can apply the lessons to how we approach our 2022 self-care goals (and other goals too)! Feel free to buy the book and read along as we learn together!
In the meantime, what are some of your 2022 self-care goals?