“𝐈 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞, 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐈 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩. 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐄!”

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Ahhh…well there lies the problem!

Gotta reframe how we envision and approach self-care, or the many ways in which we take care of ourselves and work at shaping the version of ourselves that we’re becoming with each next day.

Self care is not an hour a day that you slot out a few days per week.

I mean, it can be, but that is sort of just ‘extra’.

Self-care, the sort of self-care that involves habits and choices and actions and behaviors that are aligned with feeling good, looking good, longevity, good health markers….that sort of self-care is an ongoing thing.

Self-care and that routine, is cruise control keeping you going the speed limit on the interstate on a long road trip, and the extra bigger efforts or big blocks of time are those rare situations where you accelerate out of cruise control to pass someone, only to lock cruise control back in and stay there for 90% of your journey.

Self-care can and should happen pretty much ongoing during your day to day life. Yes, even during your totally non-glamorous routine times:

-WHILE you are shuttling your kids around from one field to the next

-WHILE you are bogged down with meetings and calls and working on all those deliverables

-WHILE you are home taking care of your sick kiddo, or spouse, or your self

-WHILE you are living the daily grind trying to keep all the balls in the air with work and family and social activities

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At first thought the prospect of adding more to any of those bullet points may seem daunting, but the main thing to remember is that a great routine/set of habits designed to help you take care of your body and your health will be a set or series of *small* things.

Things that if done singularly, may be dismissed as too small to really matter much.

Things that if done in conjunction with one another, can make a massive difference in the body of health you are either living in, or not.

The beauty of this ‘little things stack’ is that because we’re leveraging all of these being used together, no one or two of them require a ton of time, effort, or energy. You CAN layer them into your day to day life, adding more as proficiency is developed, and truly feel how powerful the right little things can become when working together for your benefit.

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The folks around you in the shape you aspire to be in, likely don’t have 3-4 workouts or massively healthy meals per week that have them in that shape. Those things are great, but they are the tip of the iceberg you can see, and really what has them in the shape they’re in are the 90% of the iceberg below the surface of the water, that you cannot see.

Those folks likely have a set of 5-10 ‘things’ they focus on, ongoing, all through their day, that make it so they DON’T have to go to any extremes or set aside hours of time a few days a week specifically for them, while hiding from all of their life’s responsibilities.

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The right set of habits and routines will propel you forward on your best days, and enable you to hold the line on your worst days.

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Do you have a strong set of foundational habits that are serving you?