Self-care is vital for building resilience toward those things in life that you can’t avoid. When you’ve taken steps to care for your mind and body, you’ll be better equipped to live your best life. It’s funny how many people view self-care as a luxury, rather than a priority. Consequently, they’re left feeling overwhelmed, tired, and ill-equipped to handle life’s inevitable challenges.

All the stress relief activities in the world won’t help if you aren’t taking care of yourself. Meditation won’t do you any good if you aren’t getting adequate sleep. In fact, when you try to meditate, you might doze off because you aren’t taking care of your body’s need for sleep.

Similarly, hitting the gym once in a while won’t relieve much stress if you’re not regularly fueling your body with healthy, nutritious food. You need to take care of your basic needs first if you want your stress relief activities to be effective.

We have curated three ways to make a self-care checklist that works for you. Ask yourself:

Do I see myself using this approach?

Your self-care plan won’t work if you don’t put it into action. While you can absolutely work to overcome these issues, there’s no need to force yourself to do something you don’t enjoy. If you truly don’t see yourself sticking with something, remember, You have plenty of other options.

Am I trying to do too much?

It’s possible to burn yourself out on self-care. Overloading your schedule with activities meant to boost wellness can leave you the opposite of relaxed. Also, many commitments, even enjoyable ones, tends to increase stress, since this leaves you without time to simply sit and process your own thoughts.

What’s worked in the past?

Think of a time when you felt happy and positive about life. What contributed to this mindset? Perhaps it was the relative absence of responsibilities, or a sense of playfulness you can’t easily access now.

Think about these and let us know if it worked for you.