oct 10/21 - How to fit in some self care...

This was my last week in Canada and my daughter's 22nd birthday and I believe the greatest gift we can give someone or ourselves, male or female, is the gift of self care. So we went to the SPA! Yes, taking 3 “women” to the spa for a mani/pedi is expensive but life’s too short not to spend your hard earned cash on self care and most importantly, in this case, some great bonding time!!

Like everything in life, if it is important you will make time for it. So have you thought of making time for yourself lately? You say you have no time? Break it up. You don't need to spend several uninterrupted hours per day on yourself, just sneak in some time. These are just a few of my favorite ways to help myself manage life.

Wake up a little earlier. Yes, this means going to bed earlier but having 30-60 min of uninterrupted time to yourself before the rest of the house wakes up is so precious and I encourage you to try this for a week and see what a difference it makes in your life. You could use this time to workout, go for a walk, make tea and just read or surf instagram or even get in the kitchen and prep dinner so you aren’t stressed later. Yes, this counts as self care because NOW after work you can relax with a glass of wine knowing dinner is almost ready! See it works!

Make time to exercise. I know this one is a tough one but it's necessary for mental health! If you don’t wake up earlier to even walk outside for 30 min or follow a workout app at home then bite the bullet and HIRE a trainer. There really is no excuse not to work out these days. With the apps on your phone like @vshred (my favorite) you workout for 20 min, that’s it, it's done and takes no time at all it just takes motivation to do it. Once, I had to hire a trainer for 6 months to get going because if the trainer was meeting me at 5:45am and I was paying $80/hr I was definitely going to show up. It sucked and it was hard but I paid upfront for each month so I had to go. It really helped and I found I had more energy and felt amazing ALL day on the days I went to the gym. Plus I lost 15lbs and slept better!

Ask for help. Delegate jobs that you just don’t do or don’t want to do. Honestly if you work outside the home HIRE a cleaning company to come in once a week and clean your house! If you are making money working you don’t need to be wasting your time cleaning toilets or scrubbing floors. If you have kids ages 10+ then you have built in cleaners to help. It’s time we started using the little people we made, they can help, it’s part of parenting to TEACH them these skills so don’t listen to the whining. You will thank me for that one!

Find time to laugh. Go out with your friends and SOCIALIZE! We are mentally stronger when we are laughing and having fun. If your friends don’t make you laugh you need new friends! 

Thank you for following my journey to writing a book series! Next week I am in Greece!
Stay balanced, 
LeeAnna