What Is Self-Sustainability / Self-Care?
Self-sustainability is all about taking care of yourself in a way that is both nurturing and empowering. It means making choices that support your well-being, emotionally, mentally, and physically, so that you can thrive and flourish independently. By practicing self-care, setting boundaries, and cultivating self-awareness, you can create a sustainable lifestyle that honors your needs and values. Prioritizing self-care and making time to recharge can ensure that you have the energy and resilience to navigate life's challenges with grace and strength. Your energy, motivation, creativity and resilience are valuable resources you must take time to replenish. Being kind and compassionate towards yourself is key to achieving long-lasting self-sustainability.
The following are some creative examples of self nurturing and care that lead to sustainability:
Get a journal like The Best Self Journal to keep track of personal and business goals. This one includes a daily gratitude section, habit tracker, win the day score and has a research-based 13 week monthly, weekly and daily breakdown.
Read a physical book. It's always a good idea to dedicate some time to finding a book that sparks your interest, even if it's not a best-seller. Although it may take a few days to shift your focus from social media's short, quick content to longer, more immersive reading, it's definitely worth it for your overall well-being. Your nervous system will thank you for it! Pro tip: Find music that compliments the genre or time period and have it softly in the background.
Add special treat days to your calendar. Set a few reminders along the way, make it colorful. These break the monotony of your regular schedule and identify even more regular activities as “special”. They can be small treats such as coffee, tea, walk, new lip stick or hair product, favorite dinner, podcast or something larger like a spa day, trip, personal trainer, meal prep service, house cleaning, or special dinner with friends. Take time to acknowledge these as special and replenishing so you can enjoy the perspective change that accompanies gratitude. The more you add to your calendar and identify as special the more reminders pop up throughout your week and invoke positive thoughts and emotions.
Explore meditation and or visualization exercises. You might have tried before and it didn’t work for you or you think it won’t work for you. Start by identifying dedicated meditation spaces around your home. Make them dedicated meditation “zones”. Take some time just sitting for a few minutes and seeing how you feel. Then try a 5 minute rest time there before starting meditation. Add some pillows like these or these. You can add some aromatherapy or white noise to help set a mood or focus. Try using a guided meditation app for short periods of time, then increase the duration. You can also look for guided visualization apps or find someone who can do this with you in person or online.
Discover a new “Treat”. Have you always wanted to try roasted matcha, a tea room, jazz supper club, somatic yoga or movement, red-light therapy? What is that thing you heard someone say at that work gathering or party? What was that add you saw on social media and it piqued your curiosity? Take one step and just look it up and see if you can find it near you. Then put it in your calendar on the next “lighter” day you have, and try it. See if it sticks, if not, try the next thing. It helps to get it in your calendar as soon as you hear or see it. If you are in line at a coffee shop and see someone with a cool bag, ask about it, or you get a glimpse of a pod cast- find it immediately. Then once you try it and like it, add it to your calendar as a reoccurring treat and spread the word!
Attend a mixer, support or therapy group. Mixers are a great way to connect with other in your community on a personal and professional level. There are a lot of in person or online groups available that can be a source of information, support, or inspiration. Often you can commit to one or all of the sessions although it is most beneficial to attend all sessions if the group is therapeutic.
