Focus on Health and Vitality

Vitality is your personal empowerment, productivity, creativity, health, and well-being. To be vital is to feel energetic and confident. The best way to cultivate this is by working on your relationship with yourself. Just like any other relationship, it requires commitment, time, and effort… and you can’t neglect it. Show some love to you! Self-care and health awareness are great ways to Sharpen the Saw this month. Here are some ideas to help you think of the bigger picture and reconnect with yourself.

Connect With People You Love

Because we are often survival-oriented, we tend to prioritize work above everything else, so our social connections begin to fade and we start to feel empty. Social relationships are equally as important as your diet, sleep schedule, and exercising. Connecting to other people gives us the boost in motivation we need to overcome the small stressors in our lives, provides increased  energy, and helps us feel alive. This can be as simple as a phone call, text message, or a dinner together talking about life updates. You can also simply reach out to those you encounter throughout your day. Being kind to an Uber driver or the local grocery store salesperson can help you both feel connected and cared about. You may not become best friends, but you can uplift each other through this simple encounter and feel more connected to those around you.

Practice Positive Self Talk

Self-talk has a big impact on how you feel about yourself. Ask yourself how you would communicate with someone you love, care about, and admire, and then try to incorporate that communication style into your internal dialogue. If you don’t feel immediately comfortable with outright complimenting yourself, focus on replacing negative self-talk with something more positive. Change “I can’t” into “I can” and focus on gratitude. For example, instead of saying “I failed at this project”, think “Even though this isn’t the outcome I hoped for, I learned a lot about myself and am proud of my efforts .” This will take practice, so at least try to find humor in the situation and give yourself permission to laugh.

Engage In Self Care

There are four areas you should consider when thinking of ways to take care of yourself: physical, social/emotional, mental, and spiritual. The ideas above mainly focus on social/emotional. For physical self care, you could drink more water, get regular exercise, or simply take additional time for your hygiene. Take care of your mind and spirit through activities such as journaling, meditation, reading, or listening to music. Overall, focus on healthy positive routines and habits that you can design in accordance with what you love doing and what makes you feel happy and fulfilled. Pick one thing that helps you feel grounded and unique and commit to it each day for at least half an hour. Whether it’s journaling, working on a passion project, taking a walk in the park, or dancing in your living room, make sure to allocate some time for you and for the activities that put a smile on your face.