If I had to choose one lesson out of the countless I’ve learned through my experience as a consultant and marketer, it would be emphatically this: You are your #1 client. Yes, it’s THAT crucial. Whether you’re a stay-at-home parent, you’ve got an abundance of clients, you’re working for a company or all-of-the-above, you have to start putting YOU first.
Now, I understand that might sound selfish, heck, I bet it might sound near impossible for many of you! However, my goal in this post is for you to see that this kind of “selfishness” is completely healthy and absolutely necessary. It is vital to your life and to the success you have truly living your life.
Take a look at where you are today. Yes, your to-do list is long. Yes, you may have endless hours of work and a pile of tasks in front of you. Clients need results and innovation. Kids need … everything. But can you innovate successfully or even think straight if you’re running on empty and barely keeping your house clean? Happy people, successful people, are those that make time to breathe, reflect and invest in themselves. Just ask someone really successful or rich. I guarantee they get up early and make time for themselves habitually.
Of course I’ve been there. I’ve worked the 80-hour weeks, the all-weekend events, the last-minute client presentations, the non-stop, crisis-mode, I-can’t-believe-that-just-happened craziness …
I know you have to make a living. I know you may have kids to take care of and of course you have a future to think about. That only builds on my point though doesn’t it? If you don’t take care of yourself, you can’t take care of anyone else successfully. You will burn out. It’s the goodness gracious truth. Let me ask you …
- How are you treating your body?
- Are you making time to eat healthy or are you eating out consistently to ‘save time’?
- Are you smoking/drinking/coffeeing because of stress?
- Are you just too busy to promote yourself and expand your network?
- Do you make time to exercise regularly?
- Have you been keeping up with checkups, eye appointments and dentist visits?
I’m not trying to make you feel guilty. I truly hope I’m not. I’m just speaking as someone who has been there and who has to constantly have checks and balances and reality checks to keep myself healthy, balanced and happy. It’s in that state that I can be the best for my family, my clients and the world around me. That is when I can truly innovate and THRIVE.
I encourage you to critically look at how you’re spending your time. Think like this is the only life you’re going to have because it is. What can you put on your ‘stop doing’ list? What can you delegate? How can you be creative to fit in some ‘me time’?
No one is going to make you make time for yourself. You have to do it. It’s an investment. It’s worth it.
~ Kate