It's Not Selfish to Put Yourself First

I talk about excuses all the time here.

You’ve heard them (and probably even used most of them at one time or another). I’m talking about things like I’m too busy, I work too much, I have kids, I’m too tired, I hate running, I hate the gym, I can’t afford a gym membership, and one of my favorites, I am not in good enough shape to go to the gym.

Many of these excuses stem from fear (of change, of embarrassment, etc.) sheer laziness, or the fact that you view taking care of yourself as selfish. You can’t imagine spending time and money on yourself! This is particularly a problem for many women, especially mothers. We are caregivers and we tend to put ourselves last over and over again. We feel like it’s selfish to take time to exercise or relax, heck you may even find yourself feeling selfish making time to take a shower sometimes.

Here’s the problem. If you continue putting yourself last, you will never reach your full potential. You’ll be exhausted and overwhelmed and you certainly will not be your best you. How can you expect to take care of everyone around you when you’re downright exhausted all the time?

Besides that, putting yourself last is simply not sustainable. If you constantly put yourself last you’ll end up with nothing left to give. Take care of yourself first. Taking care of your physical and mental health first is not selfish.

I’m sure some people judge me. Perhaps they think I’m selfish because I spend a few hours in the kitchen each week preparing healthy meals and snacks. I I look at the calendar each week to find times when I’ll be able to train and I keep those times for me-time. Yes, things happen, like a sick kiddo or clients who need to move a session, but I do my best and it’s pretty rare that I’ll skip a planned training session. Training makes me stronger and healthier. It keeps me sane and keeps me working towards my own individual goals.

I’m not saying it’s easy for me to prioritize myself and my own health or that I squeeze in my training sessions by accident. It takes a lot of time and effort to eat healthy and workout consistently, but I truly believe that because I put myself first sometimes I am also a much better mom and wife. When I take the time to train and clear my head it’s a heck of a lot easier to deal with life’s obstacles, big and small. Feeling good, staying healthy and keeping my family healthy are all priorities to me.

Making time to take care of you, whatever that means to you, whether it’s working out more often, preparing healthy meals, sleeping a little more or something else entirely is not selfish. In fact, I’d say it’s the key to helping you become the best person, mom, wife, friend and daughter you can be.