7 practical ideas to place Self-care front & centre, unapologetically!

If you identify as an entrepreneur, your business is probably in your top priorities, and that might look like:

• Long hours
• Focus on getting everything done
• Not enough time to rest & recharge

But, deep down you know that if you fail to take care of yourself you run the risk of burning out

Oh wait, let me guess, have you already experienced a burnout?

I have, twice, and I’m not proud of the tracker.

I had to learn it the rough way, I guess.

Only when I understood that ditching the so-called life-work balance and replacing it with life-work integration is the key to sustainable success as a business owner, that I managed to heal my nervous system and enjoy the entrepreneurial ride. 

The bridge presented itself to me when I traced my habits path and figured two things:

1. Building rituals, and
2. Having agency are key in this game!

You see, I call BS on life-work balance because it’s such an outdated concept that makes us think 50-50 when life is anything but halves … 

Life is fluid, in constant change, and if we shift the narrative towards prioritizing Self-care with simple daily practices that don’t need to be added to your to-do list but instead become a lifestyle, it all becomes achievable, don’t you agree?

I know you might be thinking, from zero to daily?

Let me share this snippet I wrote a while ago on my blog if that's the feeling.

The point is, learning to manage our stress, for example, building rituals to recognise, pause, acknowledge and then act on diminishing that stress with the best available tool is the way forward.

So, I’m sure you’re asking yourself, alright, so what can we do to place Self-care front and centre?

Here I’d like to share 7 ideas with you:

• Use apps/ ai to collapse time - optimise and shorten the path. I mean, since we have washing machines, it's ok to stop doing the dishes by hand, right?

• Have clear boundaries and communicate them - and try not to break them!

Remember: to say no is sexy!

• Ask for help when needed, you don’t have to go at it solo, and you don’t have to do it all.

• Declutter! In line with spring, set up some time for a spring clean, a 3-5-7 day detox, your work environment, a one day digital detox, get creative and perhaps try something new!

• Decompress daily with an activity you truly enjoy joining. Perhaps a yoga class, 20 minutes in the sauna, a bath, cooking a new recipe, reading, dancing, etc.

• Learn to breathe consciously and meditate regularly - there’s a breathing exercise to down-regulate, enhance, boost your energy - there's a whole toolbox to lean on, and meditation doesn’t need to be seated still either, there are many ways to meditate

• Look into healing your nervous system - from trauma, burnout, anything that might feel needs some love.

And here's my challenge to you, let me know in the comments which of all these you take away? Mine is:

The more we practice, the more rituals we’ll build to make it a daily habit, and in the long run it becomes a lifestyle!

This is where the sweet spot between integrating life & work lives. And, don't take my word for it, yesterday I hosted my first ever LinkedIn audio event (part of a series I'm calling Self-care, First! ) sharing these same ideas and the room agreed with me. Do you?

I’ve just created a checklist called 9 ways to upgrade the health of your team in less than 9 minutes, effortlessly. Lets connect at Andrea Cristancho and DM me the word CHECKLIST so that I can share the link with you.

Also remember: you're only one breath away, friend!