Does it seem that you are being pulled in a million different directions every single day? Your spouse, your kids, the boss, your best friend, your mom. Everyone wants a piece of you, right now. The problem with all that? You forgot how to say no and you reluctantly say yes. Your life no longer belongs to you. You are at everyone's beck and call and quite frankly, you've just about had enough.
The problem only exists because we let it. We've continually made ourselves available to every single living thing on the planet except for one. You. It seems that push has almost come to shove now and we're ready to take our life back. How hard will that be? Whether it be easy or hard all depends on you. How bad do you want to take your life back and have time for you? Here are a few tips to help you stay on track to do that.
1. Make a you schedule.
And stick to it. Block out a section on the calendar a few times a week or as often as you can and dedicate it as your time. No interruptions, just you and the things you love to do. Go for a walk, take a short drive in the country, watch silly movies, whatever. Turn your phone off and spend time loving you.
2. Tell them.
Let people know that you won't be as available as you have been in the past. Make sure they know to only contact you in the case of an absolute emergency, otherwise, they can deal with the situation themselves or call another friend or family member. Make sure they respect this time that you have dedicated to yourself.
3. Shut it down.
Turn off your phone (unless someone is about ready to have a baby!) and set it aside. Let it go to voicemail. Make sure you have made yourself unavailable to all and totally available to yourself. Whoever is calling, will call back or call someone else. You don't always have to answer the phone and you don't always have to run when someone calls.
4. Take a solo vacation.
This is one fantastic way to discover who you truly are and enjoy your own company. You will learn new things about yourself and your surroundings, wherever they may be. You may even find a new purpose or passion while you are out on your travels. Many people who have done this, have discovered that they love to travel and learn about different cultures. This could inspire many to write, blog or do mission work.
5. Treat day.
One day a week, take yourself out to dinner, lunch, a movie or an ice cream. Have a treat day where it's just you and your favourite thing, food, or snack. Go buy yourself some flowers or, if you're a guy, maybe your favourite cologne or techy gadget. Whatever the case, honour yourself with a treat day. It's important to do for yourself as you do for others. You are just as important, if not even more, as everyone else. Embrace your awesomeness.
6. Sign a declaration.
Or write a letter to yourself stating that from now on, you are taking back your life and doing things for yourself. Write about how much you love yourself and how important it is for your mental health and emotional well being to take time each week for you. Look at this letter or declaration as often as you need to, to remind yourself how important you are.
If you don't take time to honour yourself and take back your life, you will eventually crash and burn. If that doesn't happen, you will end up feeling resentment towards everyone you are bending over backwards for and will wind up just hating life. Period. As much as we do enjoy doing things for others it's important to not forget about ourselves while doing so. You'll enjoy life, your friends and family that much more.