Self Care for Bosses: One Size Does NOT Fit All

Wondering how to practice better self care for bosses?

Well, one size does NOT fit all,

have our own needs for time management and self care. Keep reading for some fabulous self care advice from Maria Tan, Success Coach…

Why Bosses Need Self Care

While self care is crucial for everyone, it is extremely important for employers.

When you are in a position to manage other people, and need to manage them over and over again, you need to make sure you take care of yourself first.

Self care is all about making sure you meet your needs first, so that you know you are able to meet the needs of others around you.

So what specifically should bosses do?

Self Care For Bosses: Energy

As a serial entrepreneur and socialite, I have to be extremely good at managing my energy.

Energy for me is the totality of my well-being:

Energy = time management + stamina + mental health + emotional being + spiritual health.

I can’t be…

• “Busy” to deliver on what I said I would.
• “Exhausted” to show up during launches and other events.
• “Frustrated” to meet my clients’ needs.

And to keep myself in good energy, I am very aware of who I am and how I’m wired.

1. I need space to process my thoughts on a regular basis. This is why I create space for downtime daily.
2. I can get extremely excited before BIG events (launches, speech, projects, charity). This is why I try to stay away from caffeine a week before the event. Otherwise, I would appear as though I have ADHD.
3. I feel things intensely. This is why I journal or do yoga at least 3 times a week. It helps me ground my energy and recenter. Otherwise, I would appear bi-polar.

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The Perfect Self Care Routine… Doesn’t Exist

Most of the entrepreneurs suffering from overwhelm and burnout tend to get sold on the picture-perfect idea of a self-care ritual or routine.

Believe me, there is no such thing. In fact, there are days when I don’t journal just because I’m too hyped.

Millions of solid ideas pop into my head so I have to work on what’s feasible fast.

There are also days when I get this melancholia that makes me simply want to pull back and cocoon.

As a woman who works with her natural rhythm, I also do bare minimal work during my menstrual cycle.

Use this as a metaphor:

Some machines need to be maintained weekly, some monthly, some quarterly, some yearly.

How one machine is built is different from another.

The same goes for you. How you’re built may simply be different from others.

Most people have the impression that I’m a workaholic and I don’t sleep.

The reason why they think that is because of the way I show up when I do.

The secret?

I am very good at doing me and this leads to very good energy (the totality of my well-being).

Remember:

Energy = time management + stamina + mental health + emotional being + spiritual health.

Here are some questions to consider before choosing how self-care is going to work for you.

And please, answer with what comes natural for you.

How To Make Self Care Work For You

Most people get this wrong because they tend to give ideal answers. Consider this an audit of who you are instead of a vision of your ideal self:

1. How long can you work on one thing? How easy can you get distracted.
2. Do you need to be doing multiple things at the same time? Are you naturally a multi-tasker?
3. Do you need to be involved in different things all the time? Can you focus on only your work? Or do you also need frequent chill-out with family and friends?
4. Do you think out loud? Or do you think silently?
5. What makes you want to “hide” or “escape”? Do you tend to defend what you do or the choices you make?

After you answer the above, really reflect on what you need in terms of time, space, stamina, emotional & mental well-being and spiritual health.

For example, I’m an extremely passionate person and when I am on a roll or in the zone, I can go 16 hours on one thing.

I love what I do and don’t mind working on the weekends.

A common misconception people would make after reading this is that I don’t relax or take the time off.

Actually, I do.

I love getting massages, hosting & entertaining people and I enjoy socializing a lot – both intimate and big groups.

But there is something about the weekend (especially Sunday) that give me the great space to just create, plan ahead and do the minutia.

This is probably because I don’t have kids.

So I do the massages, the hosting of people , the big group socializing during the week.

And for the business side of things, I simply implement what was planned so it really doesn’t have to be hard.

Plus, I have people working with me on deliverables.

Give Yourself What You Need

I also need the space to process new emotions and thoughts regularly – so I make sure I over-estimate the time needed to execute something.

For example, when I relocated to the Philippines after living in Taiwan for 13 years and being very active in many professional and social initiatives, I knew I needed at least 3 months to resettle.

I gave myself 6 months.

Write down your BIG VISION for yourself or your business. Then break it down in milestones.

Think reverse engineer.

Say you want to be known as the next Oprah.

Define that and what that looks like – in actual words.

Break Down The Vision

Next, you break down half of that vision.

Then half again.

Until you get to what’s 1% of that vision like?

What people don’t realize is they’ve actually achieved 1% of the vision by simply writing it down.

And most have already achieved at least 5% when they really do a very good assessment of where they are.

After you have those milestones, put the timeline in.

And then plan ahead – give some space for things to occur.

A lot of people fall into the trap of instant glory and instant “go”.

They would like to believe that because they thought of a great idea, it would be like clicking a button and then they can do what they said they would in the next 24 hours.

But each change comes with its own need for cultivation.

Each decision comes with its own need for up-leveling. Each function you add to yourself comes with its own need for integration.

You can’t shortcut your way to a self-care system.

When you are fully aware of how you’re wired and accept that’s just how it is, you can make self-care work for you.

At the crux of it all, self care starts at self acceptance.

You can’t care well for something you don’t know well.

Take Action! 

Claim your free Self Care checklist for a short introduction on the different elements of self care, and my favorite tools for personally addressing each one.

Download the checklist below.

Known as THE Business Coach for Misfits, Maria Tan (Maria Kathlyn Tan) empowers non-conformists across the globe to embrace the magic of running your own business, and create success tailored to their lifestyles.

Before coaching online, she was a cross-cultural business and communications consultant who worked with executives from all over the world and coached over 1000 professionals. She’s seen in Forbes, Entrepreneur, HuffPost, Elephant Journal, Pick the Brain, and Addicted2Success and was the only Asian woman featured in The Money Code and How to Crack It, a book that debuted at #14 on Amazon US. 

Maria’s 1000+ clients range from side-hustlers to new entrepreneurs to seasoned entrepreneurs. More information about Maria’s work is found in her website – www.maria-tan.com