“It is not selfish to love yourself, take care of yourself, and to make your happiness a priority. It’s necessary.”
— Mandy Hale
1. Make replacements.
Real self-care calls for replacements.
- Replace overthinking with action.
- Replace blame with responsibility.
- Replace toxic friends with mentors.
- Replace complaining with gratitude.
- Replace Netflix marathons with sleep.
- Replace fake influencers with inspiring creators.
2. Improve your mental diet.
Everything changes drastically when you learn that your diet is not simply what fills your tummy.
It is what you watch, what you read, who you follow, and who you spend your time with.
If your goal is to have a healthier mind, start by removing unhealthy food from your diet.
3. Learn to disappoint people.
If looking after yourself means disappointing someone, then disappoint them.
Your mental health comes first before your career, money, other people’s opinions, that event you said you would show up for, your partner’s emotional state and your family wishes combined.
4. Give your library an overhaul.
People spend up to nine hours on social media daily.
For this generation, your timeline is your library, and it is one of the biggest influences on what we believe and sense.
Fill your library with better books by following more people that teach, inspire and motivate, and unfollowing people who deter you from growing up, belittle your efforts and are pessimistic about your chances of success.
5. Get rid of the habit of rejecting yourself.
So many people will attempt and prevent you from discovering your potential.
Do not allow yourself to be one of them.
- Frightened you will be rejected? Apply for that job anyway.
- Fearful of the unknown? Move to that city anyway.
- Terrified of their opinion? Screw them and be yourself anyway.
The time is now to stop self-rejecting your life away.
6. Stop wasting time pursuing motivation.
Your motivation is not the issue.
It is your discipline that is keeping you at bay and thus, needs work.
- Stay consistent.
- Meet your deadlines.
- Seek an accountability partner.
Long-term discipline and consistency are far more important than short-term intensity.
7. Establish crystal clear boundaries and defend them at all costs.
You do not lose real friends, opportunities and connections when you begin standing up for yourself and establishing clear boundaries.
You lose abusers, manipulators, gaslighters, narcissists, attention seekers, and mental health-destroying parasites.
Anything you lose when you stand up for yourself is something else acquired.
—
This post was previously published on medium.com.
***
You may also like these posts on The Good Men Project:
 White Fragility: Talking to White People About Racism |
 Escape the “Act Like a Man” Box |
 The Lack of Gentle Platonic Touch in Men’s Lives is a Killer |
 |
—
Photo credit: iStockPhoto.com
