Self Care and How these 4 Things Stop Us Reaching Our Full Potential

If you’ve been reading our blog for any length of time, I can guarantee that at some point, one of the things you’ll learn from us here at On Your Journey is that you need to make time to take care of yourself.

But, when it comes to self care, we all have blind spots that keep us from reaching our full potential. Bringing awareness to these blind spots or blocks – whether they are personality traits, feelings, or actions – can help us to overcome some of these, so that they don’t stop us in our self care efforts. 

These traits vary from person to person, but today let’s look at some of the most common blind spots that you may discover when working on self-care. 

In our culture of self-care, we tend to be blind to our own flaws and mistakes. But true self care and self love is not just about bubble baths and face masks, it is about facing ourselves and working on ourselves. It is not easy. 

Sometimes we fail to recognize how some of our behaviour and habits are affecting ourselves and those around us, and maybe holding us back. 

Here are just a few of the most common ones, so let us talk you through them and maybe some of these will resonate.

Avoiding Conflict At All Costs

A lot of people hate conflict, and want to avoid confrontation, but sometimes we do need to face conflict to resolve situations.

If you try to avoid conflict at all costs, this will lead to often doing or say things you don’t necessarily agree with. This is often linked with low self esteem and can take a huge toll mentally and emotionally. This is a common issue that can really derail your self-care efforts.

When you give in to others just to avoid conflict, this also reduces your credibility because you are not standing firm in your own beliefs and values. So, if your blind spot is avoiding conflict, it’s important to address it. 

Difficulty Letting Go of Toxic People

Toxic people are everywhere. Some of them will come and go, but there are some of them we struggle to let go of, and they continue remain a part of your life. Whether it is a friend, partner, or family member, staying too close to toxic people will hinder your self-development.

Once we learn to let toxic people go, it can have a significant impact on our lives life. You’ll be happier and much more able to make positive changes in your life, without the constant negativity surrounding you.  

So, assess the relationships in your life and if there is a toxic person around you, work on distancing yourself and instead surround yourself with those who influence you in a positive way. 

Continuous Lateness

This may not immediately hit you as a self care issue, but if you are known for frequently being late, you’re probably aware of the problems it can cause. This may have a negative impact on various aspects of your life, such as your personal relationships, or at work, due to the impact of your reputation.  This means, by letting yourself keep up this habit it is a form of self sabotage. 

 In terms of self-care, this trait, along with procrastination, can make it difficult to stick to positive changes you make, or maintain self care routines that are for your own benefit. 

Impatience

If you have a tendency to be impatient, you may find self-care more challenging because you won’t necessarily see any results overnight.

Whether it is bullet journalling, or a new skincare routine, it takes time to adopt new habits and see the benefits of self-care and healing, So, if you’re impatient, it can be easy to give up before you’ve experienced the benefits of your hard work. We need to keep going despite this, and trust the process. 

If you are impatient, it likely makes you frustrated when you don’t see instant results. So, working on becoming more patient with yourself as you start your self-care journey is essential. Give yourself time!

Self-care is a term used to describe taking care of yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally. Taking time out of your day to do what you love will make you feel happier, healthier, and more productive.

These four things are just a few of the most common issues that pop up and hinder our path when trying to focus on self care or to become more mindful.

Noticing these and understand how each of them affect you individually will help you to reduce the challenges of self-care and keep you on track with the changes you make.

There are times when we all need a little encouragement to get ourselves back on track.

You should be proud of your ability to make self-care a priority. It is not always an easy journey, but you will find that you are stronger and more capable than you think.