• James has just returned from a weekend, but still not clear nor happy with his trip.
• Daniel is researching every day, trying to find out the healthy foods and alternatives available in vegan food.
• Smith, is feeling low and completely lost after his business plan failed meeting its goals and objective!
• Jane feels a lot of resentment towards her younger sibling, after a year-long legal struggle on inheritance.
• As a single dad, Alfred is trying to make peace with his ever-demanding kids, seeking constant attention energy and money. 
• Lucy just found out that her current company and boss are worse than the former ones, who she left a year ago in search of better avenues and opportunities.
• Maria, is in need of clarity, finding herself way too confused with decisions which she thought she took with a lot of contemplation and deliberation.  
• Examples like these and much more, but if you pay attention and observe, you will find a unique pattern that emerges from these examples which are about “Self” even though all cases in these examples are distinct individuals BUT with a common problem which holds its root in the  “Self”.

So, what is Self Care all about?

“Self-care is a process to identify one’s “Self” with its connection to the world within(inner self) and outside (external world), and then based on the evaluation, work on the gaps identified, towards a better version of oneself.” -____ Mehnaz Amjad

It operates on the following principle :

1.Being aware of oneself at an optimal level (holding a basic understanding of oneself)

2. It helps to identify the gaps within oneself also evaluating how much does it sync with the inner and external world.

3. It is not only a process to identify and explore gaps ,but also demands commitment to making positive changes to overcome the gaps or limitations identified through self evaluation.

The first step towards Personal Growth and development begins with “Self Care” unless you know where the care within self is needed, one can never attain the level of growth and development. Awareness is the key!

Once you start to exercise”Self Care” you will be both intrigued and surprised, to learn that any change we intend to bring about within or outside or in any aspect of life, everything goes back to the “Self” which is the central point. Operating on the same principle when you make a change at the center, all other domains of life are impacted due to its interconnectedness, so a change in one impacts the other and vice versa. Self-care thus then not only help in identifying what to change but also point towards where change is required.

Self Care just like our physical growth is a continuous process, which continues to evolve with age and phase of life we are in.  Both the frequency and results of self care may vary and are mostly dominated by the age and phase of life. As an example; a middle age working women need for self-care will be completely different from another middle age women of same age group but who is single with adopted children and parents as dependents. the process of self-care through the results,assist us discover where the gaps lie and most importantly, make us understand what needs focus and attention at a particular given point or phase of life.

Self-care is therefore required to be carried out at regular intervals and should be an integral part of our Life Long journey.

So, how do you take care of yourself ?

Though there are many ways of doing so,you could try the following:

1. The basic method is: to use the diagram given above to evaluate the different domains of life, and its connection to your “Self” ,the evaluation will help identify how one is progressing in each of it, if there are gaps and what needs focus.

Example : Maria evaluated her life using the diagram and found ,Health to be the most neglected part of her self ,which was in need of immediate care.

2. The advance method: the diagram given above is a representation of the most common Life domains, you could also add subdomains to each of it to evaluate your self at a more deeper level.

Example: Maria evaluating her health by further subdividing the domain of Health into Physical Health, Mental Health and Emotional Health

3. The expert method: is toConnect with a Life Coach that could help you realize your potential and assist you to create goals and plan for Self Care.

Conclusion: Self Care is one of the most neglected aspects of our life, because it was often misunderstood as being (selfish) or (self-centered), however, the recent research on the emerging issues, problems in life, impacting the overall well being of people ,societies and communities at large ,most of the solutions recommended and suggested point towards self care that begins at the micro level with individual i,e,”Self”.

Until next time…..

Best Regards-Mehnaz Amjad(Life Coach)

PS: If anyone of you wants to explore a course on self-care, our learning school offers it, just click to enroll.

You can also check our Coaching Program here .