I recently found myself in the very interesting position of ‘walking my talk’! As a life, leadership and executive coach for women leaders and also doing life coach coaching, my work is to support others with their personal development to develop healthy, fulfilling, balanced, successful and happy lives. I am passionate about my work and I usually feel I do a good job with my own life too but I had lost touch with my own work life balance program and personal life balance.
After a recent wonderful and energizing conference, I felt health-wise, the best I have felt in years. Imagine my surprise when I ‘crashed’ a couple of days after I got home. I was so pumped from the conference, I started to over commit and then, whamo, I got sick! The message I clearly received is that I needed to slow down. In terms of time management and commitments in my life, I was starting to get into a feeling similar to that “pre-Christmas frenzy”. Do you ever feel like this? How many women leaders do you know who over commit? How many women leaders do you know who want help with time management?
In the midst of the positive chaos and high energy, I had lost touch with my life balance and personal center! I had been taking care of the pets, the kids, employees, my work, supporting my clients and had forgotten to take care of myself! Sound familiar? If this resonates with you, check out the following ideas for re-connecting with your ‘center’ and taking care of you!
7 Self-Care Tips for Women Leaders
1. Daily, check in and ask yourself, what message is my body giving me? What activities/food/beverages/exercise does my body need more of? What does my body need less of? Listen to and act on the messages.
2. Develop your own self-care routine. Ask yourself, what do I need to do for myself on a daily, weekly, monthly, bi-annual and annual basis to really take care of myself.
3. Play hooky for a day! Give yourself a surprise day off and luxuriate in the freedom.
4. Plan a retreat day or weekend and craft your ideal self-nourishing time.
5. Make a list of all the areas in your life that are energy drains and start eliminating the energy leaks.
6. Decide which people in your life energize you and which people drain you and spend most of your time with the energizers.
7. Spend time every day in solitude, doing nothing, no reading, no music. Sit and appreciate your life and acknowledge yourself for all the great parts of you!
In solitude we give passionate attention to our lives, to our memories, to the details around us.
– Virginia Woolf
Enjoy your day and weekend! By taking great care of yourself, you can bring your best self to your life and work!
peace & namaste,
Zoey
coaching for your heart & soul
Zoey Ryan BSc., PCC
Professional Certified Coach
Life ~ Leadership ~ Executive Coaching for Women Leaders and Women Coaches
inspiration | innovation | wisdom