What you can do to focus on yourself
Set healthy boundaries The first thing we need to do to focus on ourselves is to build healthy boundaries. What this means is, in essence, learning to say 'no' when necessary. This way, we can get away from everything that we don't really want to do, that we won't enjoy doing, that won't be good for us, and we can devote that time and energy to ourselves.
Although focusing on oneself seems to be an individual journey, it needs some support. Therefore, when we decide to focus on ourselves and prioritize our needs, we need to share this with our close circle. We can tell our loved ones, family and partners how determined we are to do this and that everyone has this need and that we expect understanding. For example, if you as a mother are taking care of your child on your own and have no time for yourself, you can talk to your partner about what you expect from him/her.
Self-compassion is the key to striking the right balance between focusing on ourselves and caring for others. Supporting our loved ones, attending to their needs, providing emotional-physical support is certainly very important for strengthening our communication, but without balance, we can strengthen our relationship with them, while destroying the one we have with ourselves. Through self-compassion practices, we can remind ourselves how important it is to meet our needs and improve our well-being.
When I say inner journey, I don't mean astral travel, but it can happen, it depends on you, why not? Looking back at ourselves to connect with our essence is the most peaceful way to focus on the self. So, how can we do this? Well, there is no one way, it all depends on our own needs and style. For example, meditation is one of the most effective techniques for connecting to ourselves. But it is not the only one. Breathing exercises, mindfulness practices, gratitude, affirmations, and many other good life practices can help us put ourselves first by creating opportunities for inner journeys.
Turn off notifications, silence the phone, step away from the computer screen, remove the doorbell if possible, just kidding. But it's worth taking every precaution we can to disconnect from the outside world, even if it's just a little bit. Because the most important trick in creating me-time is to turn down the volume of stimuli so that we can really focus on ourselves. During the day, when you come home in the evening or on a Sunday afternoon, make a point of creating me-time. Even if this involves saying no to social plans and not having guests over.
Self-care allows us to focus on ourselves in a simple way. From sleep to nutrition to skin care to exercise, identifying our needs and wants and creating a plan to meet them can help us focus on ourselves. But we must remember to stick to this plan.
If you go back to nostalgic memories, you may remember that your primary school teacher encouraged you to write a diary. I remember both what she said and what I wrote; I had a fancy and fragrant diary. Of course it disappeared over the years. But it is still not too late to bring it back. As an effective way of focusing on ourselves, expressing our feelings, thoughts, desires, needs, expectations, scribbling something down every day, writing down what is going on inside us can help us to keep our focus only on ourselves.
Hobbies are a great way to make life enjoyable, as well as a great way to spend time with ourselves and something we love, so we can focus only on ourselves. If you have a hobby but don't have time for it like me, you can plan your time to include your hobbies. If you are not interested in any hobby, you can try different alternatives to find out what you enjoy.
When was the last time you took a walk alone with yourself and nature? If you don't remember the answer, make a plan right away, because I don't, and first thing in the evening, I will stop everything and run to the nearest hiking trail. We should not miss this opportunity to listen to both our body and mind, to be alone with ourselves and to realize the healing power of nature, and we should definitely include it in our daily routine.
Remember, focusing on yourself means making yourself a priority in your life; taking care of yourself emotionally, mentally and physically to become the best version of yourself. It is also a practice of self-love. So let me ask you: What did you do today just for yourself? I hope you will have some very good answers.
