New month, new challenge. Welcome to the Self Care Challenge where I challenge you (and me) to 28 days of focusing on YOU! So often our self care gets “forgotten” about as we selflessly care for the people we love and work hard for what we are passionate about. It is more important than ever to start taking care of ourselves and this challenge will show you what you have been missing.
Self-care is giving the world the best of you, instead of what’s left of you.
Katie Reed
Self Care Challenge
Why Self Care is Important
I am the first to admit, when it came to self care I was the poster child for what not to do. Raising kids, being a homeschool mom, and trying to be everything to everybody else, my self care seemed unimportant. I allowed myself to fall into the trap of only giving myself care if there was enough time or energy left. Not until after I checked all the things off my to do list and the kids were in bed, was it time for me. The problem with that was I never had energy left to do the things I needed to do. So, for another day my shower, workout, or sanity, was pushed off to later.
That was until I couldn’t manage anymore. My cup was completely empty and I had been operating on fumes for months. I sputtered to a stop and it led me to the ER.
So, this year has been all about recharging my dead battery. And one way I am doing it is to focus on my self care. I hope you join me as I share with you my self care challenge and take the challenge on yourself.
Ready to start?
Self Care Challenge
Week One – What is Self Care?
For the first week of the challenge, we look at what it means to take care of yourself. Self care is much more than a bubble bath or getting your nails done. It is about looking inside of you and taking an audit of what you need in your life to recharge yourself regularly. A bubble bath might be on that list but so will things like eating right, getting active, having fun, and standing up for your needs while being needed.
Below you will find a graphic for each day. Clicking on the graphic will jump you to the section of the page with the instructions or inspiration for each activity.
P.S. Make adjustments to the prompts as you see fit. Have fun with it. This is all about how you are able to fit slow living into your life. The only rule is that you do you!
Day 1 – Set An Intention For The Month
Consider a word or phrase that you want to focus your month around. Some ideas might be Health, Assertiveness, or Having Fun. When you make your plans for the month consider how those activities will help (or hinder) your intention for the month. Or think of ways you can incorporate your intention into your daily activities. For example, if your intention was Assertiveness (because you tend to be a people-pleaser like me) think of ways you can put yourself out there. Pick the Friday night movie instead of defaulting to “whatever you would like dear”. Or go even further and draft that proposal to your boss asking for a raise! Get intentional about your life this month and start living it the way you want.
Day 2 – Create a Vision Board
So, if you have been following my blog recently you will know I am a fan of vision boards. I love having a visual representation of my goals to keep me excited about reaching them. Today, I want you to make a vision board based on yesterday’s intention. This might be an old school collage of magazine cut outs or a digital one like this. Either way have fun with it.
Day 3 – What Does Self Care Mean to You?
Self care is a personal topic. Everyone charges their battery differently. Introverts like me might crave solitude to refuel them while extroverts need a bit more excitement to feel fully charged. Perhaps your eating habits haven’t been the best because the busyness of life has taken you out of the kitchen and into the drive thru. Or, you struggle with “mom-guilt” and hold the belief that time spent away from the kids is selfish (believe me, I know how you feel and it took me way too long to change my mindset). Think of what you really need in your life right now to recalibrate yourself so you can go forward with more energy and a renewed sense of normalcy (or at least sanity).
Day 4 – Write Down Three Affirmations
Adjust your self talk by writing down a few affirmations. By reminding yourself of your positive traits like “You are strong”, “You are full of love and deserve to share it with yourself”, and “You have the power to achieve whatever you set your mind to” are just a few ways words hold power. Negative words hold just as much power as positive ones but we tend to only believe the negative ones when it comes to how we view ourselves. Practice positive self talk by writing down some affirmations and if you want to take it one step further, verbalize them to yourself in the mirror.
Not sure where to start? Check out Pinterest for some inspiration.
Day 5 – Illustrate an Inspirational Quote
There is something about seeing words written out that holds extra power. Write out your favorite quote or get inspired on Pinterest. Have fun with it. Write it in big letters you can color in. Decorate the page. Or type it out and post it to your social media account. Take a moment to ponder it and think about why it inspires you.
Day 6 – Create a Self Care Routine
In order to prevent your self care from ending up on the bottom of your infinite to do list this month, make a plan to incorporate some self care into your routine. Perhaps that means waking up a bit early to have time to journal before work, or ditching Netflix for a bubble bath after dinner. Find a way you can prioritize your self care and create a sustainable routine that will take you forward.
Get some inspiration from these posts:
Day 7 – Celebrate a Recent Win
Celebrate a recent win. It doesn’t have to be big (but it can be). Think, finally getting your closet organized or something bigger like getting that promotion at work. Whatever it is take time to celebrate it. How you celebrate is totally up to you. Perhaps you want to journal about it and keep your celebration personal or perhaps you want to go all out and plan a special dinner with your partner. There is no reason we can’t celebrate our achievements (big and small). It is a way of affirming our successes and appreciating our hard work. So go on, CELEBRATE! You deserve it!
That brings us to the end of our first week of the self care challenge. I hope you gained some powerful insights into your self care and how you would like to put yourself back on your to do list going forward.
Keep this challenge handy
Pin it to your Pinterest board or bookmark it in some way and come back to it when you feel life is getting hectic again. When the times comes that you feel like you are due for another recharge, come back and do the challenge again.
And don’t forget to come back next week for week two of the self care challenge when we look at how to care for our physical selves.
While you wait for next week, check out last month’s Slow Living Challenge
