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Self-care is not selfish or self-indulgent. We cannot nurture others from a dry well. We need to take care of our own needs first, so that we can give from our surplus, our abundance.
When we nurture others from a place of fullness, we feel renewed instead of taken advantage of.
— Jennifer Louden
Hello!
In my last newsletter, I talked about what Self Care means and how essential is to our physical, emotional and mental well being. It’s being selfish in the best sense of the word - and reaps benefits for everyone. It’s as necessary as Breathing - and when do we question that need??
In this issue, I want to explore the connection between Self Care and achieving our goals. I also want to direct the title of this newsletter as a question for you... What are you doing for yourself today??
All the best!
Kathleen Fanning
How can self care support my goals??
 Any goal that is worth striving for takes effort and often demands a change in lifestyle or needs new habits. It is not easy! Even when we have a strong ‘why’ - day to day it’s hard to keep motivated. Evidence shows that rewards and self care can help us to stay on track in achieving our goals.
Rewarding ourselves in simple ways for what we have accomplished can give an injection of dopamine in our brain. We know about dopamine, but maybe not how we can ‘use’ it to keep our motivation up to achieve our goals.
When we reward ourselves for a small or big achievement, our brain associates that pleasure with the accomplishment.
Motivation and even productivity can increase as a result! Doesn’t that sound wonderful?!!
Self care in the form of small rewards directs our brain to associate the reward with the achievement - thereby increasing our chances of accomplishing more.
Here are some more examples of small rewards from the wonderful Essential Oil company Doterra:
- Take yourself out to breakfast
- Read a book you enjoy for 15–30 minutes
- Make a special dessert
- Buy yourself something you’ve wanted
- Watch one or two episodes of a show guilt-free
- Enjoy an at-home spa day
- Turn off any and all screens for an hour and enjoy the peace
- Host a game night with friends
- Get crafty by painting, knitting, sewing—whatever appeals to you most
- Enjoy a bubble bath or long shower
- Get a manicure or pedicure
- Diffuse your absolute favorite essential oil
- Take your car to get detailed
- Write in your journal
- Buy a new water bottle
- Watch the sunrise or sunset
It’s important to find things you love to do so be creative and have fun!!
A Simple Challenge!!
 As a reward for working hard in my business - and to motivate myself to continue in the same way, here’s a pic of a very big (small) wonderful reward I gave myself this week!! Lots of dopamine with this lovely car and it’s electric- good for the environment too- win/win!!
My rewards are generally much, much smaller than this but I thought I’d have some fun sharing this!
How will YOU reward yourself today or tomorrow?
Want to talk more about Putting Yourself First?
Click here to schedule a Chat to Start Your Self Care Practice
Helpful Resources
 Listen to my recent podcast interview on The Expanded Future Podcast.
I talk about Refilling the Well of Resilience: Building up well-being, energy and balance. Click here to listen
You can find more helpful resources including podcasts, articles on my website! Click here
Connect with me
To learn more, visit my website, Invest in Yourself here:
www.invest-in-yourself.ie
You can also email me directly here:
kathleen@invest-in-yourself.ie
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