Guilt is a choice. Nobody else can make you feel that way - you pick it. When it comes to prioritizing yourself, it starts with making the choice to not feel guilty about it. Then decide on your minimums and stick to it. 

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Step 1: Decide not to feel guilty about it.

Prioritizing yourself is a matter of accepting your needs; therefore, you have nothing to feel guilty about. You need to feel good about yourself - that’s an important part of giving yourself to other people. I pick a few things for myself that I do super consistently and don’t worry about the rest. I make these things non-negotiable. 

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Step 2: Decide on your minimums. 

What are the things you need to do to make yourself feel strong and whole? How often do you need to do them? 

For me, this looks like:

1. Working out: I work out at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes, early in the morning before my kids wake up. If I wait until later in the day, it doesn’t happen. If my kids are up, they become the priority. 
2. Skin Care: From a young age, my mom taught me to take care of my skin. I use Beauty Counter because I found it works for me, and I don’t want to keep re-solving that. I always have extra on hand so I never run out. I also do regular facials at a medical spa - Hyrdafacials are my favorite!
3. Sleep: I go to sleep early, aiming for at least 7 hours a night. I’m not one of those people that can run on a few hours of sleep. One thing that I’ve had to drop as a result of this is watching tv. If I turn on a show, I have no self control and end up staying up way late.

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Step 3: Stick to it.

Keep the commitment to yourself. 

You work hard to keep your commitments to everyone else on your calendar, why would you not keep them to yourself? It’s very hard. It takes practice. But if you keep the commitment you don't have to keep resolving it.  Just do it. 

One way this looks for me: When I leave an appointment, I schedule the next one. And then I prioritize it - I leave it on my calendar and make it happen.

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To hear more on this topic, listen to this episode of Scared Confident

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