3 Reasons Why We Fail At Practicing Self-Care

self-care self-love Feb 17, 2022

Even when you know how important self-care is to your wellbeing, it isn’t always easy to incorporate it into your daily routine. In fact, did you know many people fail when it comes to taking care of themselves?

Let’s look at why people generally fail when it comes to self-care and the main things holding them back.

Self-care is often perceived as selfish

One of the main reasons people fail to take care of themselves is because they feel it’s selfish. It could be that you feel guilty when you take time to focus on yourself. Or you may worry what other people think or that you are a terrible parent for not focusing solely on your children’s needs.

It is a total myth that self-care is selfish. In fact, it can help you to be a better parent, friend, spouse, and relative. The more you take care of yourself, the easier you’ll find it to take care of others. You’ll also show your children the importance of self-care. Teaching them to take care of their own needs is a crucial life skill that’s going to help them to grow up to be happier adults.

Self-care requires effort

There is no getting away from the fact that self-care does take some level of effort in the beginning. When you aren’t used to making self-care a priority, you’re going to need to make quite a few changes to your routine.

Coming up with a self-care plan can feel like a chore, making it easy to put it off. However, there are ways to reduce the effort. For example, focusing on one thing you want to improve at a time can really help. Perhaps you’d like to start working out more? Scheduling time to exercise as soon as you wake up, for example, can be a great start. Or, if you’re looking to drink more water, focus on that goal first.

If you break down your self-care tasks, it makes them much easier, reducing a lot of the effort involved.

Different approaches work for different people

Every one of us is different, which means we enjoy and dislike different things. When you initially look at examples of self-care, you’ll find a lot of them relate to things like reading a book or taking a hot bubble bath. These types of activities aren’t for everyone so they might feel self-care really isn’t for them.

Self-care isn’t just bubble baths, yoga, and meditation. Self-care is anything that relaxes and takes care of you. So, if you find going for a run is a more effective way of feeling good, that would be classed as a self-care task.

If you find one self-care approach isn’t working, try something else. Self-care should be personal to your own needs.

One of my definitions of self-care is anything that brings you joy.

These are the most common reasons people fail to take good care of themselves. It can be difficult overcoming the initial barriers to self-care. However, once you fully understand what and how important it is, you’ll find it much easier to stick to a self-care routine.

OVER TO YOU:

Take some time right now to plan your self-care. Put it on your calendar. Start with just 15 minutes a day. Write in your journal what brings you joy.

Love Yourself More And Be Less Hard On Yourself

The Real Secret To Living Your Best Life

When Your Soul Is Tired, It's Time For A Personal Retreat

8 Reasons Why You Need To Journal Now In This Pandemic

Self-Visualization To Get You Sleeping Soundly

Free Podcast: Reducing Stress In Difficult Times