As a busy mom, wife, and business owner, I’ll be the first to admit I haven’t always done a great job of taking time for all that “self-care” that people talk about these days.

It’s not that I wasn’t interested, but I always thought “self-care” was girls’ weekends, massages, and facials…and to be honest, not only did I not have the time, I just couldn’t wrap my head around the money I would be spending…and, if I am really honest, I didn’t even love all of that as much as I thought I should.

But I kept hearing how “self-care” was so important as a woman and I wanted to figure out how to get it. But as I was at a loss to come up with ideas myself, I Pinterested “self-care ideas” to try to figure out some…and boy, you won’t have to search long to find all these cute checklist printables with what seems to have all the answers. 

But yet, I was still at a loss.

Why? Because I realized I didn’t really know what self-care was.  I kept thinking it was something I needed to do to “escape” from my life, to get away from it for a while, every month or so.  But the opportunity for that to happen on a regular basis wasn’t physically or financially feasible. And, let’s not forget the fact that many of those things on the list didn’t actually excite me or make me feel better after I did them!

So I started asking around, digging in, and asking other women what they did for self-care.  

The most common answer I got was?  Laughter.

Yup, almost everyone I talked to said they don’t have time for much self-care other than maybe downloading a book on audible and listening to it while they cart their kids around.

That’s when I found Naomi, a “wellness advocate” who specializes in helping moms understand self-care better….yes, it’s a thing, and affirmed my realization that I’m not alone in this issue! 

It was Naomi who helped me see, in my quest for figuring out how to “self-care” myself, that I was looking at it all wrong.

Self-care isn’t something we do to escape our lives once in a while, it is something we do that fills us, DAILY, so it keeps us STAYING in our lives.  She also said that each of us has very different needs and because of that, we have to find out what fuels us.

Mindblown.

So I started looking at my day differently and began reflecting on the things that give me energy, and fill me up. 

Like my morning routine.  I have been doing my own morning routine for years and just recently added 15 minutes of yoga to it.  

I have never identified that as self-care!  I just thought it was something I needed so that I could be ready for the chaos of the day ahead.

But, that, my friend, IS self-care.

I have since redefined my definition of self-care and realize that when I do things, throughout the day that fills me or makes me feel productive, I am taking care of myself.  It’s amazing how when you shift your thinking and identify these moments as the opportunity to care for yourself, how much more you enjoy them!

And for each of us, that may look different, but it’s not hard to figure out.

I can’t feel settled in a project unless my area is organized and together.  Taking the time to organize it? Self-care. 

I have to plan out my day at night, figuring out when I will do the things on my list.  My husband calls it obsessive. It calms me before I go to bed, so want to know what I now call it.  Yup, self-care.

I have been wanting to re-organize our coffee mugs and wine glasses in our kitchen.  I know it will feel so good when it’s done but I haven’t given myself permission to take the time to do it because it doesn’t seem all that important to anyone else.  But taking the time to do it so I can feel a little more organized in my space? Self-care.

And here is the one that if you told me a year ago I would consider to be “self-care” I would have thought you were crazy…but paying my bills and revisiting my budget, something I set aside twice a week to do, gives me a sense of control and peace just knowing where we are at, financially (even if I don’t like it!).  

That, too, is self-care. 

What gives you satisfaction?  What makes you feel productive?  Those things we do each day, throughout the day, help fuel us.  Much like the nutrition approach we teach about how to fuel our bodies with food to keep our energy and strength up, we need to fuel ourselves with little moments that make us feel satisfied, productive, and joyful.

It’s how I can continue to be that busy mom, wife, and businesswoman and live a life I don’t want to escape from! 

What are the daily self-care habits that fuel you??

Carrie