Self-Care in the Age of Super Achievement

Super achievement is a new trend swelling up around us. Currently, motivational videos, podcasts and other media are calling us to get started manifesting our dreams into reality. These new trends are quite effective and deliver great messages, encouraging us to get in touch with our inner potential. While it is good to become more productive, still it is wiser to make sure that when we begin to build and to demand more of ourselves that our constructions have solid foundations. Before you embark on that new journey of self-realization, make sure to stop and take inventory. Some journeys require us to look within before we leap to understand where we are physically and where we are in our relationships.

The Importance of Rest

A friend once called me and asked me for some advice. She had introduced the ritual of meditation into her daily life but found that every time she began to meditate she would fall asleep. Hoping for some quick and savvy solution, she asked me what she should do. I answered very simply and directly, “Get more sleep.”

While there are methods to help the body to stay awake during meditation, in this case, I had the advantage of knowing my friend very well and being aware of her busy schedule and the heavy demands she puts on her body. When our body reacts differently than we expect, then it is our duty to tune in and listen to see whether this could be a message. Meditation is one of the healthiest practices for the mind, body and spirit. Still I encouraged her to be sure that she, in addition to meditating, is getting a good night’s rest.

Many years ago I read an article by a woman who began working hard to start a business only to find that her body could not hold with the demands of her schedule. She first had to focus on her health before she could realize her dream of being self-employed. Years later, I found myself in a similar position, changing my habits in a desire to be more productive only to find that my body suffered from my merciless determination. Since I could not consciously make the decision to slow down, my body decided for me and sent me spiraling into a virus that put me in bed for three weeks. Even now, I am thankful for that slap on the wrist, reminding me to take time to rejuvenate.

Rejuvenation Is Essential to Productivity

When you are creating your plan of action, remember to incorporate relaxation and rejuvenation, not only for the sake of your body but also for the friends and family who care for you. The habit of genuine self-care is just as, if not even more important than the habit of goal-setting and networking. You cannot help others and be of service until you have given that same level of care to yourself. As often counseled on airplanes, secure your mask before you help others.

Introduce these new habits of focus and productivity into your life gently and with harmony as opposed to the energy of obligation and pressure.

Give Your Body a Voice

One can even use meditations to listen in and to hear what it is that the body needs. Give your body a voice and have a care for what she is communicating to you. If you take care of yourself, in the long run you will be far more productive, than if you were to ignore your needs and collapse shortly before the finish line. It could be something as simple as taking a fragrant bath or calling up your close friend for a candid chat.

Self-care offers us individuals the chance to express our appreciation for who we are and even what we have accomplished, giving us the confidence to continue on in some of the more trying moments in life. Feeling and being at your best are the keys to super achievement and what better way to get there than by showing some (self-)love.