A woman I am coaching recently asked me: “Whose needs come first, mine or those around me?” Maybe you recognize the way she was constantly debating with herself about whether her own journey and needs could in any way be as important as the needs presented to her by everyone else in her life.
She already knew what was most important to her, but in her everyday life there was little room left for her own journey. She was getting to the point where she knew that she had to take her own needs and goals more seriously. But she believed that if you take care of yourself first you are selfish, and other people’s needs cannot be met. That was holding her back.
At times the stakes for taking your own needs and aspirations seriously can seem high, but it is exactly like an oxygen mask on an airplane: you have to take care of your own mask first before you can be there for someone else.
If you are running out of oxygen, it starts with taking your own journey seriously: allocating the time to finding out what is truly important to you, finding your personal values and setting your own goals that will get you there, and building the courage to be true to what is most important to you.
Being more serious about your own journey begins with being true to what is most important to you in the small everyday situations. It rarely starts with changing your job, your spouse or your home.
However, nobody is going to give you permission, and some people might even disapprove of what is important to you in your journey, but it doesn’t change the fact that it is what is right for you. Some things are not negotiable if you want to keep the supply of oxygen coming in your own mask.
Only when you are serious about your own journey it will unfold!
To help the process you can focus on following actions:
1. Do something every day that is important to you – and only you.
2. Based on what is important to you set a few realistic goals for your journey
3. Look for and connect with people that will value you taking your own journey seriously. – You will need support!
Good luck with keeping the flow of oxygen coming!