A new year means a new list of goals to work on. Though there are many important areas for growth, the self-care area is often neglected.
We may write down self-care goals, but they end up becoming some of the most failed ones as other things take over.
Taking care of yourself is important because if you don’t, then you’re not properly able to take care of and pour into others.
This year, let’s focus on ourselves more by working on these eight self-care goals below!
1. Drink More Water
Starting strong with number one, drinking water is somehow one of the hardest goals to work on. Many people make this goal but never accomplish it successfully.
Drinking water is important because staying hydrated is important. We’re often too busy even to try to drink water more or prefer to grab an energy drink instead to keep us going through the day.
However, giving your body the proper amount of water shows how much you care about it and your health. You wouldn’t allow your pet or child to go without the water they need, so you shouldn’t allow yourself to go without it either!
2. Take More Breaks
In 2024, let’s take a new approach to taking breaks and how that looks. Some of us rarely take breaks, if at all, and that needs to change.
Life may be hectic, but you’ll never be able to continue handling any of it if you don’t take time for yourself. As much as you may want to feel like a superhuman, you are super, but remember that you’re human.
Taking a break won’t make you lazy and you won’t miss anything. That work will still be there and those people will still be there, but you might not continue to be here if you enter another year without giving yourself and your brain a break.
3. Eat Healthier
Eating healthier goes along with the goal of drinking more water. Self-care starts with the inside of the body and eating healthier is one of those goals that many make every year, yet can never remain consistent with.
Some may also not see eating healthier as self-care, but it is! Self-care means taking care of yourself and eating healthy is not only taking care of yourself, but your body.
With that said, when working on this goal, do it realistically. Self-care isn’t only eating healthier, but not forcing yourself to eat things that you don’t enjoy.
To make this a realistic goal, find healthy foods that you genuinely enjoy. Also, don’t forget to treat yourself still because having a sweet treat now and then is self-care as well!
4. Say “NO” More
If you’re someone who hates to turn people down or disappoint them, you’re probably used to saying “yes” to others, even when you don’t want to.
Self-care is about putting yourself first, as hard as it may be for some. Putting yourself first means putting your foot down and saying no when you don’t want to do something.
This applies to your personal life and work life. When it comes to work life, it may get a little tricky depending on who’s asking, but you can still set boundaries. Those boundaries don’t just go for your coworkers, but yes, for your boss as well.
Speaking of boundaries, those same ones need to be set for your friends and family. If the people in your life care about you as much as they may claim, then they should understand and no harm will be done.
5. Say “YES” To Yourself More
On the flip side of saying no more to others, you should work on saying yes more to yourself in 2024!
Now that we are taking more breaks and saying no to things we no longer desire to do, there’s more time to say yes to what you desire.
Along with often feeling too tired, fear is one of those things that keep us from doing what we’ve always wanted to do.
Look back at 2023 and think about things you never did because you were too scared or just couldn’t make time to schedule in. Take those same things you said no to last year, and say yes to them now!
6. Incorporate Daily Positive Affirmations
The tongue is a powerful tool and even saying something negative about yourself in a joking matter can affect your mind.
Life is hard, but we’re often much harder on ourselves, which is why incorporating daily positive affirmations is important for self-care.
Whether it’s you or there are people in your life tearing you down, positive affirmations are like a weapon battling those negative words.
Incorporating daily positive affirmations also helps as each one of us goes through the next journey in our lives for 2024. The journey to the destination is never easy, but affirmations are the coal that keeps your engine running!
7. Work On Being More Intentional
With everything you do, putting intention behind your moves is important. This even applies to the goals on this list.
Going after your goals or doing something without putting intention behind it makes it harder to “stand on business” and move forward with said actions.
If you’re intentional then you have a clear mind and know what you’re doing, why you’re doing, and have an end goal to achieve.
8. No Longer Worry About The Uncontrollable
Life is hard as it is without worrying about the things that you can’t control. Worrying about the uncontrollable only causes unnecessary stress and takes up space in your brain for the things you can control.
It’s easy to say not to pay attention to those things, but when you do it, you feel the difference.
It’s as if a weight has been lifted off your shoulders because you now accept the uncontrollable instead of trying so hard to change it.
Self-care is important and working on simple goals like the ones mentioned is a great start! 2024 will be the year for growth, change, and self-care!
Which self-care goals would you like to work on this year?
