Self-Improvement Goals That Focus on Self-Care
By contributing editor, Andrea Needhham
It’s natural to strive continually for self-improvement, but there’s a lot going on around the world today causing stress and complicating life. Maybe right now the best goals should focus on taking care of yourself, including your emotional, physical, and mental health.
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Tackle Your Physical Response to Stress
Stress puts your body into a physical state with increased blood pressure, elevated heart rate, and tense muscles. Some stress can be positive, but too much stress causes physical and emotional challenges. Maybe it isn’t possible to change the source of some of your anxiety, but there are steps you can take to reduce their impact:
- Cut out the triggers you can control
- Practice saying “no” to unnecessary demands
- Make time to relax every day
- Work on removing negative energy from your day
You could benefit from lighting white candles and sage smudging or including a peaceful guided meditation each morning as you prepare for the day.
Refresh Your Home Environment
Researchers have found that a cluttered home makes it difficult to focus, leads to frustration, and wears you down. Conversely, they’ve also found a correlation between tidy living spaces and increased levels of happiness. Focus on developing simple, daily habits of decreasing clutter, creating an organization that suits your routine, and cleaning a little deeper each day.
Create a Fitness Routine You Look Forward To
You’ll probably never find a self-improvement list that doesn’t include fitness goals. If the word “exercise” causes your heart rate to start racing, take a step back and think about achievable movement activities that you can enjoy. Something as simple as walking your dog or playing a neighborhood game of basketball provides valuable benefits.
Eat and Sleep To Reduce Stress
According to experts, certain foods affect your cortisol levels; among other things, cortisol affects the physical results of stress. Foods that provide relief from stress include poultry, fish, whole grains, and fruits and vegetables. The Mediterranean diet is often recommended to people who feel anxious and overwhelmed to the point that their health is suffering.
Your quality of sleep and your ability to handle stress create a cycle that either improves or gets worse, each factor impacting the other. When you start to cram too much into your day and sacrifice quality sleep, your ability to respond to daily stressors decreases. This, unfortunately, also means that the quality of sleep you do get decreases.
Shake Up Your Workday and Start a Business
It’s a fact that if you are spending 8 to 10 hours a day in a stressful job, you will struggle to decrease the emotional and physical impact. You may also find that even if you loved your job a year ago, you now find yourself feeling stagnant. Now may be a great time for a career change.
Maybe you’ll find that the best move for you is starting your own business. Controlling your own business day can be a huge boost to your self-improvement success. There are many online resources available that can help you out; you’ll need to learn about choosing a business idea, finding funding, marketing, and how to structure your business. Instead of hiring an attorney, you can use a formation service to register your business. Read reviews and customer testimonials to find the best LLC formation service for you.
Remember that caring for yourself shouldn’t cause more stress. Choose one or two of these suggestions that resonate with your current situation. Whether you’re starting a new fitness routine or opening a business, pick up new habits that help you feel better each day. With changes that you can easily maintain every day, you may find that you feel better physically, emotionally, and mentally. With your new improvements, you should find that it is easier to handle those stressors that you can’t control.
