Make time for you!

A friend who has recently transformed her life through diet, exercise and increased mindfulness, recently told me a little story that gave me quite a chuckle at first, but then got my little wheels turning. She was standing with her neighbor when another neighbor walked by on her daily, fast paced power walk. After the woman walked by, my friend's neighbor said "I see her walking all the time. She must have some sort of condition that her doctor told her to walk for"......my friend and I thought "yeah, like the condition of LIVING"....or "being healthy".
The comment made me think how adults often need a major life altering or life threatening issue to force them into taking better care of themselves. Children adapt easily to new situations and games and "exercise" just for fun. Adults, on the other hand, frequently udder the words "I hate exercise".
What if you saw it as a way to manage your condition of "living" instead though?
Ever think about how much time in your day or week that you carve out to take care of yourself or put yourself first? Many of us have a huge priority list and we fall somewhere down near the end. We forget that the best way to be our best selves and tackle our long to-do list is to start by putting ourselves first! Putting ourselves low on our priority list is very common, so do not feel bad if you are nodding your head right now!
Now if putting yourself "first" feels too selfish, how about just thinking about treating yourself as good as how you treat those around you! Sounds like a no brainer, right?
Sit down and design a "dream priority list" for your "friend" who has come to you for advice. Create 3 columns.
In the first column, ask her some questions and jot down some of the areas that the friend needs to improve or already feels good about. Here are a few examples:
-Sleep-How many hours does she get? Do you think she needs more?
-Exercise-Does she do this at all? Is she getting bored with her routine? Does she lose motivation have way through? Does she have a buddy?
-Eating-Does she feel like she eats a balanced diet? What would she like to eat more of or less of? What types of foods does she think that she would like to learn more about? What areas of her diet does she feel good about?
-Stress and happiness-Does she feel burdened in any one area of her life (home, work, school)? Does she have anyone that she can talk to? Does she take time out for herself to do "fun activities"? Does she treat herself to 'me time'?
-Negative talk-Is she too hard on herself? What things does she come down on herself about that aren't warranted?
-Miscellaneous category: work, school, beauty
Voila! A list of areas that your friend "in a dream world" would work on and perfect or already feels good about....but this is a dream list like I said because it is the list that works flawlessly only on the moon! Here in the real world your "friend" has kids, work, school, friends that tend to get in the way of all of the "me time".
Here is where column 2 comes into play. In the second column, next to each priority area, write down the barriers that may be keeping her from attending to the priority.
In the 3rd column, brainstorm ways that she can circumvent the barriers and find deeper happiness, even if it is just some of the time.
Take for example:
-column 1-Feels like exercise isn't worth it if it isn't daily, so currently not exercising, but wants to try for 30 minutes every day after work".
-column 2-Barrier: Two days a week (Thurs and Tues), the kids need to be picked up from school after work and brought to soccer.
-column 3-Compromise: M, W, F drive straight from work to gym for exercise. Tuesday and Thursday forgo gym, but walk around the park while kids play.
Ahhh, compromise!!

Sometimes just sitting down and raising the bar for yourself gives you just the boost you needed! Remember, treat yourself today like you would treat your very best friend!
7-Day Goals: Got 5 minutes today? Would you carve out time for someone you cared about today to help her prioritize her time to lead a happier life? How about yourself!!