The BEST gift to give yourself

How often do you set aside time to work on yourself? Especially being still to think about what you want. What brings you joy. Goals you want to achieve.

As a woman, life is all about juggling and managing. You take care of the family, manage your work, home, and more.

So often women feel guilty about doing something for themselves. They put others or their work first. When you take time to feel good you attract wonderful things into your life.

We tend to think of leisure as a luxury. When time gets tight, it’s usually the first thing to go. But having enough downtime is actually a necessity for optimal coping and thriving. In fact, lack of adequate time for rest, relaxation and personal interests can make us grouchy and downright ugly- lol. Ladies – we NEED Me Time!
I have noticed in my Confident Woman Recipe course an overall theme – feeling behind because as women we put everything else first.

Here are my five tips for giving yourself the best gift ever – the gift of quiet time for YOU.

1. Change is a choice. Deciding to spend 30 minutes of quiet time a day could cause some discomfort, some inconvenience, and disrupting your current routine. Giving yourself an extra 30 minutes could mean you’ve got to go to bed 30 minutes earlier to get up 30 minutes earlier. Can’t imagine 30 minutes? Start with 10 minutes.
2. There's no need to apologize for dedicating time to yourself. In fact, the minute you start apologizing is the minute you start questioning whether you ought to be doing something else with your time (and no, you shouldn't be). It's time to own the fact that taking care of yourself isn't just something you deserve, it's something you need to be a happy, functioning, fabulous woman.
3. Routines help us do things without having to think about them. Build this quiet time routine so it happens without you having to think about it. Science says it takes 21 days to develop a habit—so get started now for maximum Me-Time results!
4. Me time doesn’t have to be about doing something. It can simply be about doing nothing. Be still. Or meditate.
5. If you don’t know what to do during your quiet time you could start with morning pages. Grab a journal and first thing in the morning just write. Don’t worry about spelling, being neat, or what it says. Write whatever comes to mind. I also find this helpful at night before going to bed. Doing a good brain dump on paper before bed can be better than a sleeping pill.

There are an infinite number of ways to approach Me Time or Quiet Time. And obviously, no one way is right or wrong. The key is to follow your instinct on what will help you relax and feel good—and do that – without apology.

Valentine’s Day would be the perfect day to start a quiet time practice. Gift yourself with much deserved time.

Happy Valentine’s Day!