How Well Do You Take Care of Yourself?
Check the statements below that ring True for you. Resist the urge to fudge your answers. A valid result is dependent on your honest responses. Show compassion for yourself, and omit any judgement.
This is a tool to assess where you are now—not an opportunity to point out where you may be falling short. Let’s Go!
Physical Self-Care:
____ Eat meals throughout the day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
____ Eat a well balanced diet (including a rainbow of fruits and vegetables)
____ Unplug from electronic devices throughout the day
____ Exercise 3-5 times per week
____ Sleep 7-8 hours per night
____ Make time for sexual intimacy alone or with a partner
____ Get regular preventative medical care (medical, dental, vision)
____ Participate in a fun physical activity or hobby (singing, dancing, biking)
____ Maintain a healthy home environment (free of toxins and clutter)
____ Wear comfortable clothes you look and feel good in
Psychological Self-Care:
____ Examine your innermost thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and beliefs
____ Maintain a daily ritual of meditation or schedule quiet time to reflect
____ Write in a journal to express those ideas and to release worry
____ Express your deepest feelings to your family and friends
____ Seek professional coaching or psychotherapy as needed for support
____ Read literature that supports personal development and growth
____ Engage in learning new activities that nourish your soul
____ Practice the art of Giving and Receiving
____ Routinely say “No” to added responsibilities and requests from others
____ Pause before reacting and practice deep breathing to avoid escalation
Emotional Self-Care:
____Stay connected and spend time with those you love and enjoy
____ Identify activities that comfort you and seek them out
____ Show Self Love (schedule “Me” time, use positive self talk, buy yourself flowers)
____ Praise your accomplishments and affirm your worth regularly
____ Find the humor in life and seek experiences that make you laugh
____ Be Brave enough to see your imperfections and accept them or commit to improve
____ Allow yourself to cry when you are low
____ Express your emotions in a positive manner (use “I” statements to release emotions)
____ Practice self control: Identify triggers and find healthy ways to avoid conflict
____ Foster relationships with children and pets for a healthy dose of unconditional love
Spriritual Self-Care:
____ Make time to connect with your Higher Power (God, Spirit, the Universe)
____ Practice Being Still with the use of prayer or meditation to deepen your connection
____ Participate in a spiritual community or gathering that you feel closely aligned with
____ Spend time connecting with Nature
____ Be Open to life’s mystery, Stay Curious and allow it to unfold with controlling
____ Learn to Trust your Intuition through the act of Faith
____ Trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be at this moment in time
____ Cherish the gifts you have been given and use them for the greater good
____ Identify and Vision what is meaningful to you and make it a priority in your life
____ Look for the “Aha” moments that signal synchronicity or serendipity at play
Congratulations! What do you see in your care?
Take time to thank yourself. It’s never easy being brutally honest with ourselves when assessing our proficiency at Self-Care. Please show yourself some compassion and remember that nobody is perfect. We are all doing the best we can with what we have. Sometimes we are going to miss the mark, especially during times of stress.
Review the areas that could use a boost, determine how you can improve in those areas and then take the small, incremental steps to foster growth and general well being.
To Score: Divide the number of checks made by 40. 36-40 = Excellent Work, 28-35 = Improvements Needed, 24-27 = Danger Zone, Less than 23 Warrants Extreme Measures.