The short answer to this question is…Well, Yes, it’s made up, in my case anyway. I am titling the next series on The New Old You – Self-Care September. There will be FOUR solo podcasts in September on FOUR different aspects of self-care. Several that you may not have even considered as being self-care in the past. But they totally are.

What’s In A Title?

Why am I calling it this? Well, I would think that the alliteration of it is pretty evident. Self-Care September. It just sort of runs off the tongue and gives you a nice, chilly, warm feeling. I like that effect. Of course after I came up with this brilliant idea, I found that according to Google, September is National Self-Care Awareness Month. I hate when other people come up with my good ideas before me.

So be original, I could have called it “SOLO September” to commemorate just me on the mic. I do admit that I am a little nervous about that. Conducting interviews has gotten easier over time although I am still a work in progress. And I always have Mike to be the fall-guy on the FNBB if all goes to hell. But mono e mono with the mic has me a little EEEK. We can all do hard things and this fear I will push through, too.

SOME people consider self-care to be self serving, so I guess it could have been called “Selfish-September”. It probably wouldn’t draw a lot of listeners though. Add to that that the fact remains that self-care is actually the furthest thing from selfish there is. That is if you actually understand what self-care is.

Self-Care 101

Self-care as defined by the Google, it is the practice of taking action to preserve or improve one’s own health. So right there, let’s debunk the selfish out of self-care. What good are you to anyone if you aren’t doing what is necessary to preserve or improve your own health? Everyone has heard the old airplane analogy of putting on your own oxygen mask before putting one on your child. It’s trite, but true. And the same is true with self-care. You have to take care of yourself first to be able to help anyone else for any amount of time.

Self-care can be a myriad of things from small to large, from free to expensive, from private to public. Pampering yourself is most definitely the most recognized form of self-care; but officially there are five different types of self-care: physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual, and professional. And I will be addressing several of these next month.

September Is The Perfect Month

Concentrating on self-care should be a year-round activity. But if you are out of practice or just need to start, September is the perfect time. September 1st marks the countdown to the new year. Four months. Two-thirds of the year are gone forever. Yet there is still one-third left. With kids going back to school and seasons beginning to change, many people start to think about the changes they want to make in themselves before January 1st gets here.

Or they may be needing to reduce their overwhelming stress by this point in the year. And then there is that goal you set at the first of the year that hasn’t been touched yet. September is a month of renewal for many and can be for you, too. Obviously, there is no such thing as a bad time to start taking care of yourself, reducing stress, or working toward a goal, but all roads in September lead to January. And there is no better time than the present.

Put Yourself At The Front Of The Line

Self-Care is like a lot of things. It is a practice. Putting or thinking about yourself first can very hard to do when you have been conditioned to take care of everyone else first. The first time you may be guilt-ridden, but trust me, it gets easier. And once you get better at it, building on that practice, everyone around you will notice.

They won’t notice that you didn’t cook a big dinner last night or that you said “no” to something you normally would have just said “yes” to with no passion. What they will notice is that you are smiling more. That you seem calmer, are laughing, giving out more hugs, and listening more intently than you used to.

Actually, the more you pay attention to your own needs, you are working to become a better spouse, mother, child, friend, and employee. And not only that, but the better care you take of yourself teaches others how to treat you as well. There’s a whole lot of winning in self-care, so you are going to need to tune in all of Self-Care September to find out where to start. See you there!

Get Yo Podcast Version Here:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1594894/11211232