Supercharge Your Self-Care

It took me awhile to realize this, but not everyone is like us.

Not everyone looks at the world and sees the raw, aching potential of how things could be. Not everyone listens to the call of the world we know is possible.

All around us, the pace of change is increasing. Often, it can seem like things are going to get a whole lot worse before they get better.

For those of us doing service work, it can sometimes even feel like there's no point in trying, because of the magnitude of challenges we face.

At this moment in time, our entire world is rapidly changing, impacted by a pace of technological advancement that the planet has never seen, all while our local ecosystems are collapsing or on the brink of collapse.

We need clear-eyed realism to acknowledge the way things are and the gumption to try to make a difference.

Oh, and we need to not get depressed, be okay with not getting paid for long periods of time and/or being chronically underpaid, and be subject to a higher rate of vicarious post-traumatic stress and violence than others, depending on where we chose to apply our skills.

It’s all part of being a changemaker, they tell you, but the old model for being a changemaker has got to go. There is absolutely no point in giving up your self-care for the work because very quickly it leads you – and the work – nowhere.

It’s no surprise that when we feel stressed, we tend to neglect our self-care. Then, we go from feeling bad to worse, and it's even harder to begin again.

I hate to say it, but in a list of priorities, we changemakers are way too used to putting ourselves last. I hope you see that for us to be successful in this work, for us to make a dent in the future, how we treat ourselves must change.

Why Self-Care Matters for Leaders

1. Martyrdom is over. It is no longer viable to sacrifice ourselves to our work, to give away everything and hope that it will be enough; we need to mature. The future is emergent and requires that we show up to co-create it, with our full capacities.

2. Changemakers need support. It’s way too easy to isolate when we get stressed or we feel unlovable. As leaders, we lean on our closest circle to stand by us and help us navigate when things get rough. Cultivating and nourishing your relationships in the good times means that people are so that those you love know how much they mean to you.

3. Self-care is foundational for impact. Treating ourselves badly dents our ability to make an impact, to be the powerful, transformative leaders we feel called to be. Self-care requires focus and training because we need to relearn how to treat ourselves to break out of old patterns of self-neglect and self-abuse.

4. Leadership by example. We cannot lead others if we cannot model strong self-care. The challenges of being a leader mean that we’re looked at as examples. It’s up to us to create a culture of burn-out – or well-being.

5. Releasing old wounds. Being a changemaker is challenging. If you're anything like me, you're at least 10x harder on yourself than you need to be. Often, we absorb patterns from our upbringing that don't serve us and that need to be released. Doing personal work to release old wounds is essential so we can face new challenges and opportunities with a fresh mind and heart.

   If it sounds like a lot of things to do, it is. Becoming a healthy, happy changemaker doesn't happen overnight. It's a journey. Most of us only start self-care when we're facing burnout when we feel like we don't have a choice.
   
   The fact is that we have the power to create our own happiness and health, wherever we are and whatever we are doing.
   
   It all comes down to mindset – to be willing and committed to making a change.
   
   I'm here to help you to navigate the journey you're on so that you can stay healthy and happy while making an impact in the world.

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