How to Decrease Overwhelm Around Self Care
In my conversations with most women professionals (many of which are entrepreneurs with flourishing businesses of their own), I hear that focusing on their own health is hard. There’s too much information to sort through, too many “shoulds” and “shouldn’ts” – not to mention, advice and recommendations are always changing.
When you’re running a business, managing family life and schedules, trying to stay on top of your game in your area of expertise, and just generally trying to figure out life, brain power is a precious resource. Sorting through the 1.9 billion Google results for “the best diet for women” is not a great use of your time or mental resources.
Most women don’t prioritize their health until a problem shows up – they wait way longer than necessary before getting help and taking action.
When you’re frequently on the edge of overwhelm (and maybe even burnout), it’s understandable that you’d turn away from the things that are creating more overwhelm for you. But the reality is that your health isn’t a given. Most women don’t prioritize their health until a problem shows up – they wait way longer than necessary before getting help and taking action…
It might surprise you to know that as a functional nutritionist who co-owns a business with her chef husband, I’m also prone to overwhelm in the world of wellness. There are a lot of opinionated voices in the field, and there’s a lot of research to sift through.
Here are three pieces of advice on how to move out of overwhelm and find more space for self care:
No. 1: NARROW DOWN YOUR SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Pick publications, newsletters, and people that leave you feeling calm and clear on the next best steps you can take for your health. Weed out sources that don’t feel aligned with you and your season of life.
No. 2: TAKE MESSY ACTION
Messy action is better than no action. Don’t let Pinterest or an “influencer” on social media make you feel like your health efforts need to look a certain way (i.e. perfect). If grocery shopping feels like a feat to you, the first step is to carve out a time to just get to the grocery store consistently (or order them online!), not to leave with a perfectly curated cart. Step number one: Just go to the grocery store every week and build from there.
No. 3: FIND THE ONE THING
What is the one thing that will be a game changer for your health? Is it changing your eating habits? Is it exercising? Is it better stress management? Determine the answer to this question and then get to work on it. You may need to brainstorm a list of all the ways in which you can work on this one thing. From there, you can pick the first best thing to focus on, then the next best thing, and so on…
P.S. If you need help figuring out your best next steps for changing how you eat and feel in your body, let's talk. We currently have a few spots open for coaching clients who are looking to finally figure out the habits that help them feel nourished for the long haul.
