Self-Care Is NOT One Size Fits All

When it comes to self-care, it's easy to assume that what might work for one person will work for you as well. We like to take advice from others on what to do to improve our quality of life, though this might not be the best path.

Everyone has unique experiences in life, and we all have different problems that we want to address - and even different ways of going about solving them. While you could follow someone else's guide and feel a lot better, that doesn't mean this will always be the case.

For example, if you're having issues with your job and that's stressing you out, you might start to look at some generic solutions for your self-care. Someone might recommend working out to relieve stress, which does in fact work for some people.

It can take your mind off of things for a little while, giving you a chance to relax. However, this doesn't mean that it'll work for everyone. Some people might get stressed out going to the gym, feeling like there are people judging them, and others might not be financially able to afford one.

If you want to effectively tackle your problems and take care of yourself properly, you need to be able to identify the specific problems you're facing in life that you want to get repair.

This could be finances, health, relationships, or a number of other things. Your experiences and your problems will rarely be identical to someone else, and another thing that won't be identical is what you prefer to do in order to handle the stress that accompanies these problems.

This doesn't mean that you shouldn't try solutions that other people have. If someone has a solution, it's worth giving it a try. If it works for you, then that's good, and you can continue to use it.

If it doesn't work for you, though, you can't get all worried and upset about not being able to find the right strategy or begin to lose hope. It just means that you need to keep looking.

In fact, you can even take other ideas of self-care and use it for inspiration for your own unique ways of taking care of yourself. If you try a method and like it, but think it could be tweaked slightly to better fit your needs, go for it. Don't be afraid to customize your self-care plans.

Both Men and Women Benefit from Self-Care

A problem that so many guys tend to have these days is acting too tough. They think that if you do or enjoy some things in your life that aren't stereotypically macho, then you're not really manly.

In reality, it's not that easy. You can certainly be manly and still enjoy some simple things that all humans should engage in, regardless of gender. Many guys tend to mistake self-care for being something feminine, but that couldn't be further from the truth.

One of the reasons guys think that self-care isn't manly is because they're misunderstanding what self-care really is. Self-care isn't just a spa day here and there. It's a cohesive routine designed to help you become a better version of yourself.

So even if you're worried about being macho, self-care still involves working out and doing things that you like to do. However, even if a guy does want to do a spa day, it's probably going to be good for him.

Getting a massage and being able to relax for a few hours doesn't make you any less of a man - and in fact, it can leave you feeling fantastic afterwards. There are so few downsides to being able to just relax.

Honestly, if men want what's best for their lives and want to better themselves as people, they need to drop the act, relax, and live a little. Nobody really thinks it's super cool to avoid self care things, apart from maybe a handful of other guys who are just like you.

Meanwhile, there are men out there who don't care, and fully reap the benefits of a full self-care routine. By adopting a self-care routine, you're going to be more in shape, more mentally sound, and happier in life.

None of those things are exclusive to a specific gender - they're for everyone, and everyone would be better off with them. There's no downside to attempting to better yourself, other than putting in a little bit of effort, which should really be no problem at all.

At the end of the day, what everyone needs to realize is that you shouldn't stay away from self-care just because it doesn't "fit your gender." Self-care is a fantastic resource that you should be able to take full advantage of, no matter what.

Build your own routine to suit your liking, as long as it's helping you become a better person. Get the mani-pedi, schedule a massage, take time to meditate and clear your mind. Self-care is for everyone.

You're Never Too Young or Too Old for Self-Care

A common excuse that you may use for just about any part of your life that you don't feel like doing is that you're out of the age range. Most often, people complain that they're too old to start doing something, and therefore shouldn't even try to start.

This has been applied to fitness, education, finding a certain job, and it's definitely been applied to self-care. Some people run with the train of thought that tells them that since they've made it this far in life, why should they suddenly try to change things?

This is essentially the, "If it's not broke, don't fix it" mentality, and in the context of self-care, it's incorrect. You are never too old to start a self-care routine, and in fact, that might be a better time to start one if you haven't already.

As you get older, you're probably being put under more and more stress and gaining more responsibilities, increasing the chances of you needing a routine like this as you go on in life.

Having all the stress of bills, work, family, and so on can impact you severely, so just because you didn't need a self-care routine a few years ago, it doesn't mean you won't need one now.

People also like to think that since younger people have so few stress factors in their lives, they shouldn't even concern themselves with it. In fact, young people suffer from many stress factors, especially when they have tunnel vision and all they know is school.

School itself is a major source of stress, but so are bullying, making friends, having relationships, and trying to balance all of their commitments. Younger people could easily benefit from learning how to take care of themselves, because often times, they just let their problems run amok since they don't really think that they can do anything about it.

By teaching younger people self-care early on, they can start to build a foundation for it that can last them the rest of their lives. By getting an early start on self-care, younger people are likely to be more stable and more confident in their own abilities.

This can make such a world of difference to someone who thinks that they're not good enough or someone who's stressed out about all these random things. There's no real harm in doing it, but there are all kinds of benefits if they need them.

Explore New Methods of Self Care

If you're the type of person who regularly engages in self-care, that's something to be celebrated. But after some time, your old methods of self-care can feel stale and boring. What was once something new and invigorating for you is now just another part of your daily routine, so you're not as enthused or affected by it anymore.

You'll begin to get used to your current self-care routine at some point, so you shouldn't be afraid to start testing out new methods of taking care of yourself, both mentally and physically.

You might find that something new and different - something you hadn't considered before - works better than your old methods. Many people find their comfort zone in self-care and stick with it.

This isn't the worst thing in the world, but it doesn't help you as much as you might like. While it's perfectly fine to be comfortable doing your current routine, you might want to try switching either one thing up - or everything, if necessary.

There are so many methods of self-help out there that you might be missing out on something if you don't try it out just once. It also helps to switch things up so that your body and mind don't begin to react on autopilot, refusing to benefit as much as they did in the beginning.

For example, you might have a great setup for yourself in terms of mental self-care. You're feeling good about yourself, and everything is working out well. However, one day you might hear about someone journaling in order to help them keep track of their thoughts and help with their mental health.

This might pique your interest, but you might not do it just because you're not used to it. Instead, don't be afraid to try it for yourself. Look it up online and see what others are saying about it and how you should do it.

Then, find a way to work it into your routine, and give it a little practice run. Whenever you're trying out a new method of self-care, don't just try it once and then make a decision.

Give it at least a week, if not more, to get adjusted to it, and then decide whether or not you want to keep it as a part of your routine. In all honesty, it's always better to have tried something and not liked it instead of just never trying it in the first place.

If you never try something, even if you think you won't like it, you'll never know if that could've been something great for you. Take a chance and give it a fair opportunity, and perhaps you might just find something that helps you improve yourself more than you thought possible.

Mental and Physical Health Can Benefit Each Other

It can sometimes be difficult to properly manage your time in such a way that you're able to work on both your mental and physical health. It seems that sometimes they don't really work well with one another.

However, they're more similar than you might think, and by working on one, you can actually greatly improve the other at the same time. Everything in your body is connected, and that includes your brain.

Your mental health can have a direct effect on the rest of your body, and your physical health can have a direct effect on your mind and mental well-being. If you let one deteriorate, the other will follow suit.

However, this also applies to improvements, meaning that if you're able to develop better physical health, you can easily develop better mental health. As you improve your mental health, you're likely relieving stress and relaxing quite a bit.

This can have a ton of positive physical effects on your body. By ridding yourself of stress, you're far more likely to lose weight, eat healthier, and stop experiencing things like aches and pains.

Stress can have a ton of negative effects on your physical health, so by controlling that mentally, you'll see improvements in both categories. Similarly, as you eat better and become healthier, your body will release endorphins that can make you have a better, more positive outlook on life and help you feel better in general.

Exercise and physical fitness can also make you happy by seeing progress and results, releasing dopamine knowing that you're making positive strides towards a better physical appearance.

While you can't always try to work on both your mental health and physical health every single day, you're doing a bit of good for both by just taking the time you need to do one.

Don't worry too much about trying to get everything balanced and spending more time on your health and less time doing the things you like, because you'll just end up getting stressed out and undoing all of your hard work.

It's okay to miss a workout, and it's okay to take an extra mental health day. You're not going to fall behind by taking a bit more time for yourself or some more time to do other things that you want or need to do. As long as you don't stop your efforts altogether, you're going to be just fine.