Give Yourself Some Slack
A summer bucket list
Many of us have much higher expectations of ourselves than we do of other people. Consequently, when we don’t live up to our own expectations we beat ourselves up way more than we would if someone else didn’t live up to our expectations. Practicing empathy for ourselves is one of the greatest traits we can cultivate to be better in work, at home, and in life overall. Our imperfections make us, us. And while we are much more likely to forgive the shortcomings of others, most of us have a hard time doing that for ourselves.
We are constantly talking about self-care, work/life balance, filling your cup, etc. Often times those things get great lip service but deep down inside we feel guilty when we prioritize life over work. This guilt often arises from a dissonance between our own expectations of perfectionism and the truth of our own imperfections.
Practicing self-empathy can take you one step closer to living a balanced life (whatever that looks like for you) by giving yourself permission to be less than perfect, less than productive 100% of the time, less than the perfect leader/employee/parent.
This month, I challenge you to give yourself some slack.
Here are some ideas – the only rule is to not feel guilty for doing any of them:
Take a mental health day and use it to not do anything productive (no cleaning, laundry, or errands)
Play - Pick up a new hobby that does nothing but make you happy (AKA no other tangible benefits like weight loss, saving money, etc.)
Coloring
Painting
Needlepoint
Puzzles
Photography
Take a spontaneous trip
Forgive yourself for a mistake you made last month, last year, or last decade
Eat something delicious
Binge-watch something
Procrastinate - push something off until tomorrow or next week
Go to a movie during the “work day”
Got other ideas? Drop them in the comments below.
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© Sarah Duran 2022
Find out more about me and my company, Fruition Initiatives, here.
Image by Raphaël Biscaldi from Unsplash
The Obvious Disclaimers…
This information is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as, and shall not be understood or construed as, professional advice. What you decide to do with this information is up to you and all repercussions are on you.