Put yourself first.
The reason to put yourself first in your life is because being the best for others begins with being the best for and to yourself.
When you fly what do the the flight attendants tell you on every flight? Put the oxygen mask on yourself first, then help others.
It’s the same in our own lives, but do we do it?
Not all of the time, and for some, never. Believe it or not, I had a male client who struggled with putting himself first. He gave of himself to his work and to his family. When he came to work with me, he wanted to start doing things that would make him happy.
He told me it was a long time since he had been happy and liked his life.
You could say he was successful in many areas of his life. My client had a wife and two teenage children, took care of his ailing and aging father, his sisters and his extended family. And as a successful building engineer, was well-liked at work.
Recognizing that all of his time was spent on taking care of other people, he felt a lot of anger about it and toward them. Because it didn’t leave him any time to take care of himself or do something that he wanted to do.
Your emotions tell the truth.
The feeling of anger that he had was a key piece. The anger was the catalyst for his change. It helped him to decide it was important to put his own peace of mind first.
He realized that in order to be able to take care of those he loved, being angry about it or angry at them was not going to get anyone anywhere.
It’s true for all of us. In order for you to be the best of yourself, you need to take the time to take care of yourself.
And just how do you do that?
How to be the best of yourself.
Trust me, this eluded me for a long time. Anytime someone in my life asked me to do something be it going to a social event, help them move, watch their pet or children, help them with a work project or whatever need they had, I said YES, BUT OF COURSE.
I’d even ask if they needed help if I even thought they might need my help. Talk about putting yourself last.
I soon realized that there were things I said yes to that I realized “no, I do not want to do that” and felt angry. Think back to my client. These feelings of anger did not serve myself nor the person I had said yes to.
So I decided that for a little while, I would say no. In order for me to be the best of myself, I needed to take care of myself. For me that meant not doing for others before I did for myself.
I discovered that it was not hard to say no. And I discovered that when I did, I gave myself time and space in my own life to be my best self.
What saying yes to you does.
When you say yes to you, you give yourself time and space. It’s like clutter clearing. You have room in your physical life and in your head to do what would help you live the life you want to live.
And you get to say yes to others when it is appropriate to say yes. You say it from a place of love and caring.
When my client got to this place, he saw some pretty cool things happen in his life.
His family began to ask him what they could do for him. Because he had let go of the anger, they found him to be more approachable and loving.
Interesting right? They had been keeping him at a distance because they could tell he was angry. And when they needed him, he lovingly said yes and would do for them in a caring way.
Your peace of mind creates ripple effects.
My client ended up getting a promotion at work, started taking ballroom dance classes and even ended up entering dance competitions. He said he finally felt like he was living his life rather than giving his life to everyone else.
And the best part of my client recognizing and taking steps to put his peace of mind first was that everyone around him was happy just because he was happy.
How’s that for creating a powerfully happy life? By making one change he created a ripple effect for all of those around him.
He was willing to do what it took to get what he wanted. Truth be told, there were some things he wasn’t fully on board with when we worked together yet he was open to giving them a try.
He found out that those are the things that made the biggest difference for him in his results.
Moving outside your comfort zone.
Sometimes we need to let go of (or as I like to say it, clear the clutter of our minds) thoughts that have been keeping us from moving forward and think and do things that are a little different or outside our comfort zone.
Because, all of what we want is always outside our comfort zones.
Do you need to clear some clutter, physical or mental? Schedule a free Time & Space Assessment with me. Schedule your free 30 minute session now. You’ll walk away with at least one (if not more) things that you can start doing now that will create your own ripple effect for your life.
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