One of the biggest things I've learned in my life is “be good to yourself”. I am admittedly a bit of a perfectionist and my own worst critic. That doesn't mesh well with autoimmune disease where you're rarely close to one-hundred percent. Although I loathe to admit it, I have limitations due to my health conditions. I've learned to admit these limitations to myself, remind myself that it's mostly out of my control (i.e. not my fault), and find a way to accomplish what I want despite those limitations.
Zig Ziglar famously said, “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.” In many respects, this is true. If you build your business on the basis of helping people solve their problems or get what they want, you will be successful enough to have everything YOU want. But, as my mom has often told me, you have to take care of yourself before you can help others. That means that as an autoimmune entrepreneur, your first job is taking care of yourself and THEN your business.
None of us are perfect. We all have flaws, regrets, fears, limitations and many other things that keep us from reaching our true potential. There is no shame in that. The only shame is in beating yourself up over these things and continuing to let them hold you back. Acknowledge them, cut yourself some slack, and then move forward with the determination to work on those flaws, let go of the regrets, face those fears, and overcome limitations. Love yourself as you are and promise yourself that each day you will take a step forward in improving yourself. In other words, be good to yourself.
Be Good To Yourself By Making Time For Yourself
In this day and age, we're always busy, busy, busy. It's a convenient excuse for not going to the gym, backing out of commitments, avoiding things you don't want to do, and talking yourself out of things you do want to do. Even when we do make time for the gym or keep our commitments, how often is our mind completely elsewhere, thinking about what we have to do at work or our business tomorrow, etc. I admit, I'm completely guilty of this myself.
Society has pressed upon us this feeling that we should always be doing something and if you're not, well, you're lazy. But, the human mind and body need downtime. Making time for ourselves or making time to do nothing should be one of our priorities, just as important as any of your other top priorities. And during our “me time”, we should be fully engaged in the moment, enjoying the “now”. In other words, not thinking about your “to do” list at work tomorrow or worrying about how you'll pay the phone bill.
It's difficult to make the shift in our minds, to create the discipline to be mindful and present. It takes practice to master and even those who are very practiced still struggle with it sometimes. I have realized just how important being mindful is. As I am learning to catch myself when I'm not being mindful and pull myself back into the present, I am becoming happier. I am worrying less and focusing more. And I am definitely enjoying my weekends more.
When I was young, my mom gave me four tasks I should do daily in order to have peace. I don't remember exactly what all the tasks were, but I do remember this. Each task involved a different aspect of myself: mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional. As an adult, I have come back to this advice and appreciate it all the more, because it is very similar to the S.A.V.E.R.S. routine I follow from “The Miracle Morning”. S.A.V.E.R.S. is an acronym for Silence, Affirmations, Visualization, Exercise, Reading, and Scribing. Combined, all these activities touch on the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual in some form or another. It is a way to make time for yourself and practice self-care. It's a kickass way to start your morning, focusing on improving yourself and being good to yourself.
You may say to yourself, “I'm not a morning person.” Neither was I, but I have learned to be in order to make the time to do this important thing for myself. And the best thing is, you don't even have to be a morning person to be successful, as long as you make the time to work on yourself. But, if you wait for time to just magically appear, it will never happen. You have to block out the time yourself. There is nothing wrong with making time for yourself in the evening or whatever works best for you. But believe me, starting the day off spending time on myself has been much more rewarding than any evening routine ever was.