Your limiting beliefs may be keeping you from a self care routine that truly nourishes you.

Your limiting beliefs may be keeping you from a self care routine that truly nourishes you.*gasp!* Even if we don’t realize it – sometimes the stories we tell ourselves can keep us down and hold us back. How bummy – right? Especially when we get caught in the whirlwind of daily life – a self-care practice can be the first thing to go.

Don’t beat yourself up about it! It happens to everybody – but the true work comes in noticing how we hold ourselves back, then taking conscious action towards rewriting those neural pathways – and setting ourselves up for success.

So today we’re going to talk about three limiting beliefs that are keeping you from your self care routine, and how to combat them.

Three Excuses Ruining Your Self Care Routine

1. I don’t have enough time

You can never “find” more time to do the things you really really want to do in your life (like yoga, surfing, knitting, whatever your happiness hobby of choice is!) The hard truth is – you’re just not making the time.

If you’re feeling like you don’t have enough time to take care of yourself or do an extra bit of me time, here’s what we’re going to do.

Take a log of everything you do with your time over two days. From brushing your teeth to driving to work, from Instagram scrolling to Google binging. Yes, everything. 

Once we notice where we’re spending our time – it becomes more obvious the areas where we can trim the fat. Where can you carve out an extra ten minutes of self-care time?

2. I don’t have the energy

By the time you get home from work – you’re mentally exhausted. I feel for you homie, but there is something we can do to fix it! We’re going to find your energy leakages.

Notice throughout the day as you’re working, when you feel a desire to step away or take a “brain break.” How do you respond? Do you reach for your phone to mindlessly scroll for 20 minutes before tearing your eyes away and drudging back to work? You’re definitely not the only one. But it might be time for a digital detox.

It may seem mindless, but phone usage is taxing on you mentally and emotionally. Every auto-played Facebook how-to video requires your brain to acknowledge, digest and react to that piece of information. It happens in a split second – but we do this all. damn. day. and by the time the end of the day rolls around – we’re mentally drained!

From now on, whenever you notice yourself itching for a good ol’ mindless scroll, get up from your desk and maybe take a quick walk. Pop outside if you can. Drink some water. Do something that gets your blood flowing and actually gives your brain a break.

3. I don’t have the motivation

This is your why. You need a personalized reason for why the heck you’re creating a self care practice in the first place. Not just because you think it’s “good for you” or some random hippie chick on the internet told you to 😉

You need to ask yourself: “what would happen if I took better care of myself?” Would you become a better, more compassionate spouse? Would you be less stressed and reactive to your kids? Would you be able to be more focused and on task at work?

You could think of this as giving yourself a goal or an indicator of success. After all, why not use our reward addiction to our benefit?

You can write your why out on a sticky note and hang it up where you’ll see it and be inspired by it daily.