On this weeks episode of the Beyond Boss Podcast I am talking about fulfilling our basic needs with 4 new forms of self care. Have you find yourself believing that self care is either massages, bubble baths, and rest, OR therapy and exercise? All of this is important, but you might be missing major opportunities to life a more fulfilling life if you are not hitting each level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in your forms of self care.

Obviously I am not a psychologist, but I believe that we can all apply this principle to our daily lives in the search for a more intentional life.

 

Financial Awareness as Self Care

– Creating a budget


- Setting financial goals and knowing what targets you need to hit.

– Knowing what is due and when, setting up auto pays.

– For business owners: outsourcing your bookkeeping and tax prep to someone that you trust. 

Social Self Care

– In COVID times, rates of depression, anxiety and other mental health challenges have sky rocketed according to a CDC report, and it is not hard to understand why.  Third from the top of the hierarchy is “belongingness and love”, and second is “Safety”.  We have been isolated, and dealt with the constant threat of death or illness.

Maybe you are not using social interaction as self care, and you should.  While it is hard right now, finding ways to safely connect with other is so essential.

Some ideas might include virtual happy and coffee hours, virtual trivia, or even going shopping outdoors where you know there will be other human beings. If you are a Beyond Boss Insider, take advantage of our opportunities for virtual connection in the form of happy hours, classes, coffee dates, and more.

Intellectual Self Care

At the very top of the hierarchy is self actualization, which essentially means the ability to reach your own potential.  When we think of this in terms of self care, this could be as simple as reading a book, solving a puzzle, or learning something new.

Happy Space Self Care 

 

Our most basic needs and food, water, warmth and rest, just below safety and security.  One of my favorite methods of self care is organizing and tidying my space.  Lighting candles or turning on an oil diffuser. Changing out photos in picture frames.  Decluttering.

The Bottom Line…

The bottom line is that self care is not just face masks and bubble baths.  We often think that on the flipside of the coin, it has to be therapy and physical exercise, which are obviously also important.  We too often miss the opportunities to gently hit each of the steps on our hierarchy of needs with some of the simple forms of self- care mentioned today.