5 Simple Steps to Creating a Self Care Routine – Take Better Care of You This Summer

 

It is time to take care of you this summer! Sharing with you the complete self-care routine you need to ensure that your heart, your body, and your mind are all being taken care of! Giving you the inspiration and the how behind creating your very own summer self-care routine. With FIVE super simple and easy steps you can take RIGHT NOW in order to start taking better care of yourself today! 

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How to Create a Simple Self-Care Routine to Take Better Care of You This Summer

It is so incredibly important that we prioritize taking care of ourselves, and it doesn’t have to be as complicated as we may think. Nor does it have to be as extravagant as we may think. Therefore, I have some easy tips to share with you regarding your own personal self-care routine, that you can start implementing right now.  That way you can actually prioritize a little bit more of your own self care. In order for you to not only feel your best, but also be your best, right now, throughout the craziness of summer.

Personally, I’ve had a lot more slower moments lately. It feels funny to say, nor do I want to fully admit that as my son just turned two and I’m spending pretty much every moment of summer with a toddler. All while trying to maintain a home and work on things that I also want to work on. While, all of that can be a lot, it’s this really unique cadence that I have found of really living life more slowly.

Living Life More Slowly During the Summer Months 

Now, a lot of this has been made possible by spending less time on my phone, less time on other screens. Prioritizing spending moments in connection with the people around me. Of course, we just got back from a beach vacation, so that has a big role in this feeling of slowing life down a little bit. Whether it was the moments on the beach, during vacation, reading my book, relaxing in a bubble bath, or even just the simple moments of working on a puzzle with my family, I found through these last couple of weeks, this shift.

This beautiful mindset shift, as well as a physical shift. The pace that I was living in, simply shifted. An actual shift to be living life more slowly, full of more presence, more purpose. And it was a really beautiful thing. It is definitely something that as I gear up into these next few weeks of summer, transitioning to back to school and the craziness that the rest of the year brings, I really want to keep in consideration for my own heart. To really understand why my heart is drawn to this slower pace of living.

And not just understand my heart, but to figure out a way to keep this here for the long haul. Truly, I have found the ability to slow life down and live more presently in the moments by spending less time on my phone and computer. Finding a new cadence within my soul, simply by doing things that I have always loved doing. Doing the things that have always brought me joy.

My Mission to Share Inspiration to Live a Life Full of More Joy

This is a big part of my mission for my podcast, the Best Day Podcast, to provide inspiration to live life with more joy. To take each day as its own and find the beauty and the extraordinary within the ordinary of each moment. This is a beautiful thing for us all to focus in on. And my purpose in this entire blog post here. To give you the steps that you need to help you create your very own self care routine.

So that you can actually prioritize taking care of yourself. Even in the hustle, even in the chaos, through the crazy of everyday life. That you would be able to find more moments to slow down, more quiet in the noise, and more connection within yourself. Because you owe it to her. You owe it to the person you are in this very moment. She deserves that!

Important Questions to Ask Yourself Before Building Your Self-Care Routine

Before we can build a self-care routine, first we must ask ourselves a few questions. Some of these questions might be hard, while others may come easier to you. While, some of these questions may absolutely require you to dig deep and ask yourself why you feel the way you feel regarding certain situations. Specifically, four questions to consider. 

What Brings You Joy? 

The first question, what brings you joy? Take a moment and think through this question, seriously. What brings you joy? What fills you up, what lights you up. Think of something you love to do that makes you feel alive in. Where you are so fully you in something that completely lights your soul on fire. That moment where you feel like I could be the happiest person in the world right now doing this thing.

Make this simple. It does not have to be the extravagant things. Instead, it can be the most simple, simple things. For me, it’s the quiet moments with my son at bedtime. The snuggles, the stories. It’s the comfort and the warmth. This moment of stillness at the end of my day brings my heart so much joy. Additionally, it’s a reminder to me that I don’t have to always be going, going, going.

A reminder to take moments and slow down and be happy where I am in each moment. So the first question, to help build your self-care routine is, think to yourself, what brings you joy?

What Do You Need More Of? 

The second question, what do you need more of? What are things in your life that you realize you need more of? Maybe you need more rest. Or your body is craving more movement and exercise. Or, maybe what you need is less noise, less distraction, more quiet. Maybe what you really need is less clutter. Whatever it is, think through this deeply and determine the one major thing that you are in need more of in your life. 

What Are You Lacking?

The next question, what are you lacking? What is not being fulfilled within your heart? Do you have relationship? Do you have community? Is there something in your life, right now, that motivates you. Do you have something to fight for?  Dig deep and ask yourself the big question. Self-assess and determine what is not being fulfilled within the depths of you. 

Where Do You Carry Your Stress? 

Finally, the fourth question to ask yourself is where do you feel your stress?Physically, where do you carry your stress? Mentally, what causes you to get more stressed than in certain situations compared to others? It’s really important to think through these answers to these questions. Because we can learn so much from how we respond. Therefore, take time, think through these questions four questions: 

1. What brings you joy?
2. What do you need more of?
3. What are you lacking?
4. Where do you feel your stress? 

Work Through These Questions

Work through these questions and sit with your responses. Allow how you answer these questions to become the foundation of creating your very own self care routine. Keep these things in mind because this is where you pull from. When you’re thinking through, what is it that I need more of? Focus on how you responded to these questions. Now that we have asked the hard questions, we can move with anticipation to build our very own simple self-care routine.

5 Simple Steps to Creating a Self-Care Routine That Works for You 

If you know that you need to do a better job prioritizing yourself. If you feel as if you are being pulled in all the directions. Everybody needs me. I can show up for them barely, but I’m not showing up for myself. Then these are the five steps to take right now to help you get to a place where you are able to spend a little bit more time on pouring into YOU and putting YOU first. You deserve that. You absolutely deserve to take care of you. 

Simple Self-Care Routine #1 – Focus on You!

The very first step to creating your own simple, self-care routine is to focus on you! The very first essential step is to focus on you. Keep yourself in mind and focus on what works for you. Additionally, focus on the things that you actually need. Don’t worry so much about what everyone else says. Don’t worry about what’s trending. Instead, focus on what you know you need.

The truth is, you know yourself really well. So, focus on that. Focus on the things that you know your heart tells you each and every day. And focus in on what you need. Therefore, the very first step to creating your own self care routine to actually work for you is to focus on you.

Self-Care Routine Step #2 – Focus on What You Need the Most

The second step to create your own self care routine is to focus on the number one thing you need the most. Don’t try to create this extravagant day where you are living in this over-indulgent state of mind, where everything is going perfect. Forget that. Right now, focus on the number one thing.

If somebody said, hey, I’m going to give you one need right now that you need, mental, emotional, physical, what is it? I have the answer to you. I’m going to hand it to you right now. What is the one thing that you need? Do you need more sleep? Do you need to be able to decompress? Is it to feel less anxious? Or less worry? Do you need to remove fear? Or to find more room to breathe? Focus on the number one thing that you need.

What Do You Need the Most

This can be a physical need, or an emotional need. It can be a mental need. But, focus on the number one thing that you need the most. And you can find what you need the most based on the answers to the questions asked earlier. Therefore, figure out what the very first, most pressing need is. Give yourself permission to not worry about anything else right now. Don’t focus on what everyone else needs. Focus on what you need.

I get it. There are so many roles we play in our life. There’s a lot of people that we are constantly interacting with and a lot of people that really need us to show up each and every day. However, we have to take care of our own needs because if we neglect our own needs and if we forget to pour into ourself then how can we pour into other people? Therefore, the second step to creating your own self care routine is focusing in on the very thing you need the most

Simple Self-Care Routine #3 – Visualize Your Dream Routine

The third step to building your self-care routine is where we can have fun! Visualize your dream routine. This is where the visionary comes into play. Create your dream self care routine and have fun with it. Create for yourself you very own DREAM self care routine. Visualize it. What does it look like? In a perfect world. No distractions, no obstacles, nothing that can stop this from happening. This is how you would be able to truly take care of yourself daily, weekly, or monthly. What is that dream?

My Dream Self-Care Routine

Go there. Dream it up. Create it in your mind. For myself, my ideal, “dream” self care routine would include an early bedtime for my son. A beautiful, lovely bubble bath with the most perfect aroma. A nice candle, some soft music playing. 30 minutes of complete soaking in a bubble bath with epsom salt. Might have to add a little glass of wine there to enjoy while taking the bath. I step out of the bath, and then there’s comfortable, clean pajamas that are cozy, ready to be put on.

A wonderful face wash, and a nice super quick, evening skin care routine. Fresh clean sheets, actual linens that are freshly clean and actually put on the bed. Then, I jump in bed with a book and a nice mug of tea. Followed by an earlier bedtime, and sleep! That would be perfect. To me, this would be amazing. This doesn’t really happen, but that would be my ideal dream routine.

This is the fun part. Visualize and envision what your ideal self care routine is. Focus on what you know you need. Based on how you are as a human, and how you are wired. The things that we love, the things that bring us joy! 

Step #4 to Take Better Care of You – Make It Actually Work for You

Once you have your dream self care routine, take that dream and turn it into something that can actually work for you. Take the ideal vision and pull from it into something that actually can work. Find little tiny pockets of your day where you can work in the things that you need.

Little tiny moments of your time where you can actually put you first. Do so in a way that works with your schedule. Don’t try to make any crazy changes. Focus on what can complement the things that you are already doing. Small steps to make a big change. Small steps to create an environment for impact.

Imagine the impact that you will have in your day to day life. Imagine the change you will feel each and every day, when you give a little more to you. So the fourth step to creating your self-care routine, take your dream routine and figure out what components of it you can actually utilize in your day to day life. Additionally, find pockets of your day where you can actually schedule it in.

Simple Self-Care Routine #5 – Schedule it. Make it happen.

And that brings us to step five, plan it. Schedule it and make it happen. This is so important. It’s great if we come up with it in our head. We can have this whole idealized thing that we are going to do. However, we have to make a plan. We have to write it down and schedule it.

Make a point the beginning of the week as you sit down with your planner to reflect ahead to what will happen in the next week to come. Take a step and write down when you are going to have a moment for you! Even if it’s a super small moment. Quiet time to yourself. Or a moment to get in your car and drive to your closest coffee shop, to pick yourself up a caffeinated treat. Whatever you need, schedule it. Write it down.

The Importance of Writing It Down

Once it exists in a planner, in a calendar, on paper, once it exists somewhere else other than your head, then it’s real. And you have more of an incentive and more of a motivation to actually take action on it. Now, what if it doesn’t work? What if you have this plan, you wrote it down, you’re going to do this thing, I’m going to set up this wonderful Friday night, Sunday evening, whichever day I decide to have this beautiful bubble bath.

What If It Doesn’t Work

Now, what if it doesn’t work? Well, that’s okay. Learn from what didn’t work to make it better. Optimize how you live your life by taking the moments that are hectic, the moments that are chaotic, the moments that feel like an absolute failure and think, okay, why does this stink? Why is this a disaster? Learn from your mistakes. Figure out, what about this moment didn’t go right? What could have been done differently to avoid this situation? Learn from the reasons why things don’t work to figure out a way to make them work for the future.

If I really want to have that fresh linen bed ready for me to crawl into at the end of the night to read a book, but my sheets aren’t completely washed through the cycle, then I know that I need to be a little bit more on top of my laundry game. I can figure out what isn’t working and make small changes to adjust. 

Start Simple and Small

One more thing, start simple and small. It really doesn’t have to be grand. We often sell ourselves so short because we have crazy expectations of how things must look and feel. But the most important thing is giving ourself the reset that we actually need. Focus on what you actually can start doing right now to give yourself a little bit more care and do the thing that you need to do take care of yourself.

Watch as the way you live, the way that you feel, and how you are able to show up in each and every moment changes. Let go of the perfection and take one small step today to give yourself the care that you most definitely deserve. Finally, don’t let any other person or voice or thought tell you otherwise, because you absolutely deserve to be your best every single day. 

You Can Take Better Care of You This Summer

That’s it. Five simple steps to creating your very own self care routine. Focusing in on the things that work for you, so you can feel your best and be your best.

1. Step one – focus on you.
2. Step number two – focus on what you need the most
3. Step three – create your dream self care routine
4. Step four – pull from that dream into something that actually can work for you.
5. Step five – plan it, schedule it, and make it happen.