adminWhen we decide to practice a task, it becomes a habit. When we maintain the habit pattern, it becomes a routine.
Why do we struggle with starting, maintaining, and implementing?
Enter self-care leadership. Self-Care leadership is the ability to prioritize your time and attention. It’s both the art and skill of prioritizing the need for who and what requires both your time and attention. Both Managers and Executives can struggle with this; however, once it becomes a priority in their personal life, it becomes second nature along with the many business decisions they make during the course of a day in milliseconds with full cognitive power.
The professional side of it is smooth; however, the personal life pulls on the heartstrings of many. The above photo was captured during a moment of ‘pause’ at the 2nd Annual Women’s Self-Care Conference. All the women were asked to come dressed comfy. This simple self-care request caused many women to be uncomfortable. No business attire, not business casual, and this awkward feeling pushed these women out of their comfort zone as their job title should have them dressed a certain way. For many of the managers and executives in attendance, it was a hard decision to show up a women’s conference in yoga pants and a sweatshirt, and secondly, that they also chose to take a Saturday for themselves.
I heard the following statements from the attendees:
“Deb, I am a professional. I can’t come dressed like that.”
“What will the women think of me dressed in yoga pants?”
“I’m not sure I can allow myself to dress that way.”
“My business and brand could be affected if I come dressed this way.”
My response to these women was simple. If you choose to come dressed professionally, you will stand out. The premise of the day is genuinely self-care from A to Z.
My point here is that self-care leadership is needed both in our careers and foundationally in our personal lives. It’s not a scale that is not to be weighed down on one side or the other. If planning and decision making are directed to the forefront of your business and personal decisions, success prevails without emotion. Life will happen. That’s inevitable.
When we choose to make small commitments daily to ourselves, we establish inner capital that provides us with strength and self-control. It allows us to accept more of the responsibility for our own lives.
