I wonder if the term "self-care" was introduced during my generation. I wonder this because neither my grandparents nor my parents seem to understand the concept. While they certainly take care of their basic needs (eating, sleeping, bathing, etc), they don't necessarily pamper themselves.
It wasn't until recently that I began to understand the importance of true self-care, listening to your body and giving your body the TLC it needs.
Before I read about self-care and noticed great leaders actually taking time for themselves, I felt guilty paying for the occasional visit to the salon, the once-in-a-blue-moon massage, or taking the hour-long walk in the afternoon. To me, any time not spent at the office, studying for exams, or working at my parents' restaurant was time wasted. This mindsight is likely something I internalized while watching my parents work and listening to their lectures about putting in the hours at school and at the office.
A few key readings led me to understand the value of self-care:
"The Busy Trap" by Tim Kreider:
Almost everyone I know is busy. They feel anxious and guilty when they aren’t either working or doing something to promote their work...Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence or a vice; it is as indispensable to the brain as vitamin D is to the body, and deprived of it we suffer a mental affliction as disfiguring as rickets. The space and quiet that idleness provides is a necessary condition for standing back from life and seeing it whole, for making unexpected connections and waiting for the wild summer lightning strikes of inspiration — it is, paradoxically, necessary to getting any work done.
How to Think Like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett:
As CEO, [Gates] scheduled a week each year at a quiet location where he would be entirely undisturbed so he could just read and think.
Warren Buffett has observed that “I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think. That is very uncommon in American business. I read and think. So I do more reading and thinking, and make less impulse decisions, than most people in business.” He has said that he spends 80% of his time reading. Asked for advice on how to get so smart, he held up a sheaf of papers and said, “Read 500 pages like this every day. That’s how knowledge builds up, like compound interest.”
Jack Dorsey on Time Management:
Dorsey says he starts each morning by meditating, then does a seven-minute workout off his phone, and then makes coffee before opening up the app to check the news.
Then the CEO walks five miles to Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, rain or shine, a walk that he says takes him an hour and 15 minutes. This all happens before 8:30 am.
“I listen to podcasts or audio books, sometimes take phone calls,” Dorsey said. “I’m really happy I make time for myself because it just clears everything away.”
The walk is noteworthy since it’s how Dorsey — a billionaire CEO who runs two companies (the other is Square) — manages his day.
"Ballerina Body" by Misty Copeland:
You're worth it. None of your effort, not a minute of your time, is wasted as you strive toward becoming your best, most vibrant self. But sometimes, as sisters, mothers, partners, friends, we feel guilty taking our attention off of others. You should never feel unworthy of self-nurturing, but in case you do, remember this truth: When we achieve our own dreams, we carry others with us.
