In my experience as a therapist, I have learned a lot about self care. In fact, it is the hot topic on my couch most days. I love to hear people sharing the various ways in which they take good care of themselves. Talks about self care usually start out fairly positive. However, the conversation often takes a turn for the worst. It shifts into highlighting all of the ways that fail they’ve failed themselves. I’ve come to the conclusion that one of the biggest reasons for all of the negativity around self care is because there’s not much focus on making sure that self care is a personalized experience. Therefore, I’ve made it my mission to help you figure out what your personality type says about your self care. This can help you achieve a precise uniqueness in how you can best take care of yourself.

Your self care is most effective when it aligns with your lifestyle and interests

I am a firm believer that when working on goal setting, the “setting” component is almost more important than the goal it self. It can be pretty easy to come up with a goal. Most of the time you already know what you want to work on. It’s usually the whats, whos, and hows that trip us up. Oftentimes people haven’t even considered what this whole “self care” thing is really going to look like. In order for self care to be effective it has to sense and there has to be a purpose. That is why knowing who you are and what you like is so important. Understanding what your personality type says about your ideal self care is the key to building healthy and consistent practices.

What your personality type says about your ideal self care practices

So often people come into my office feeling a lot of guilt and shame because they aren’t practicing self care the “right way”. Some people are upset because they have been told they need to journal and they simply won’t do it. Others lament that they know they need to start working out everyday but it is just too tough. While both of these things are really good healthy self care practices, it can be difficult to jump into something that we are just not that into. That is why it is so important to learn what your personality type says about your self care.

Its always smart to start first with things that spark your interest. You can work to improve other areas of your life, but when you are really low on self care energy it makes much more sense to start small and gentle with yourself and work with what you’ve got. The person who hates journaling may really enjoy taking daily walks in nature. And that’s okay! Self care is self care. Remember, you can always grow and build your self care. But when you are in a funk and need a pick me up, try thinking about what your personality type says you should do to take care of yourself.