Have you ever wondered what it would feel like if you started and ended each day fully grounded, believing in yourself, feeling confident and in control of your life and career? 

This quote by Andre Lorde, “Self-care is an act of self-preservation and an act of political warfare,” is my motto for achieving this. 

I mentor a few women who want to feel more confident. They are battling low self-esteem and want to feel more confident in themselves and their abilities. These women have risen through the ranks with careers in some of the world’s largest companies, whilst some are also founders of successful businesses. Yet, they feel like imposters and struggle to pinpoint precisely why they feel that way…

This lack of confidence affects all women, irrespective of their social status, business and career achievements. From my experience, it is challenging to feel confident about yourself and your accomplishments without a healthy dose of self-acceptance and self-love. How we feel about ourselves directly correlates to the constant inner dialogue, we have with ourselves. You must be confident in your mind before becoming confident in your body. 

The way to gain the same level of confidence we admire in others is to take control of our inner dialogue, by bringing awareness to our thoughts and beliefs about ourselves. One way to achieve this is through a daily practice of self-care. 

It sounds too simple and even too good to be true, but it does work.

Internalised beliefs of unworthiness make it difficult for us to practice self-love and self-care.

Self-care is not self-indulgent but an act of survival and a means to show up better and stronger in every aspect of your life. Society has sold us a narrative of what beauty and success look like, and because we cannot always see this in ourselves, we sometimes feel we are not enough. This feeds our insecurity so they can continue to sell us more beauty, fashion and lifestyle products we don’t need.

All the incredible female leaders I’ve interviewed on my podcast follow some daily self-care practices. Some are more structured than others, so we want to make it easy for every woman to explore an effective self-care practice.

The benefits of incorporating self-care into your daily routine are many. Here are a few:

1. Avoid burnout and be more resilient.
2. Gain clarity and improved focus on your goals and aspirations.
3. Develop healthy relationships with others.
4. Build your confidence and resilience.
5. Develop healthier habits.
6. Relieve stress and anxiety.
7. Find peace and purpose.
8. Connect to your intuition.

Here are a few steps to get you started on your self-care journey. It all begins with identifying self-care actions you can take to make yourself feel stronger, identify your resistance to these practices so you can mitigate them and then commit to whatever plan that works for you.

1. Identify the reasons why you struggle to prioritise your self-care daily. Journaling allows you to explore your deeply held beliefs and release patterns that no longer serve you. You can think more deeply about your experiences and embrace who you are by putting them on paper. 
2. Identity an area that has the most impact on your wellbeing that when improved, would positively impact your self-care practice. For example, if you struggle to block out time in your diary, would an appointment with others force you to show up? 
3. Identify a list of self-care activities. These should be activities that would bring you joy and energy.
4. Block some time in your calendar for yourself, and set the alarm if needed. It could be anything from 5 minutes per day and increase the time as you get into the habit of carving out time for yourself. The Forward Ladies Women’s Power Hour offers a perfect opportunity for you to do this. 
5. Repeat the above steps daily and incorporate other practices as you become consistent with the basics. Remember, you cannot pour from an empty cup, so make time to fill your cup. 

These simple steps will encourage you to develop a positive mindset, self-esteem, and happiness. Try them and let us know how you get on. 

Have you tried our Goal Achiever Planner? 

When I struggled to implement self-care into my life and lacked confidence and self-worth, I learnt the hard way to value self-care and to make time to put my oxygen mask on before attempting to save anyone else. That is why I designed a planner that helps me to stay focused on my wellbeing and incorporate self-care practices into my daily life. 

The Goal Achiever Planner can be your ongoing prompt, reminder and support resource for your daily self-care practices. Daily pages in the planner offer reflection tools and space to focus on your daily routine and how you nourish your mind and body.

What is your top tip for incorporating self-care and self-love into your daily routine?

– Griselda