Self-Care Awareness Challenge Week 1

How the Lack of Self Care Can Lead to an Unhappy Life

Self-care is often seen as a luxury, but it actually can lead to a longer, happier life. Without self-care, you’re likely to end up feeling stressed, tired, and generally bitchy, I mean unhappy.

Here, we’ll look at how a lack of self-care can lead to an unhappy life. You’ll also learn some of the signs to watch out for that you need more self-care in your life.

You feel stressed and exhausted

When you aren’t taking care of yourself, you’ll often feel stressed and exhausted. This  can lead to burnout and a feeling of resentment. Here’s an example, you are exhausted from taking care of everyone else’s needs. Over time, if you don’t factor in your own self-care, you could end up resenting your loved ones. Sound familiar? 

When you are constantly exhausted and stressed out, it’s impossible to maintain a cheery positive outlook. Self-care helps to fight stress and it also boosts your energy levels.

Personal hygiene suffers

Another side effect of not following a self-care routine, is that your personal hygiene suffers. This is especially true for those experiencing depression. When you are depressed or down, self-care is the last thing on your mind. In severe cases, you could spend days in bed, failing to do even basic self-care tasks such as taking a shower or brushing your teeth.

The trouble is, failing to take care of yourself leads you to feel even worse! So, maintaining self-care is crucial for your mental health and personal hygiene <3 

You’ll seek unhealthy enjoyment

Another thing that tends to happen when you lack self-care, is you’ll seek unhealthy enjoyment. It could be junk food, alcohol or drugs to escape.

When you start turning to unhealthy habits for comfort, it’s going to lead to more issues. You’ll also feel unhappier, particularly if you drink in excess. Alcohol is a depressant which can leave you feeling a lot worse than you started.

Gain Weight 

Many people who don’t take care of themselves, experience some level of weight gain. The more weight you gain, the unhappier you are going to be. It can be difficult to lose weight, so focus on self-care to help you to avoid this challenge.

You never feel good enough

Self-care is something you do because you are worth it. If you fail to take care of yourself, you can end up feeling like you are never good enough. (And if you know me and my book “I Am Enough Is BS”, then you know my stance on feeling enough!)

As you are constantly tired and juggling life, you may feel like you’re a failure, or you simply don’t measure up to others. (But comparison syndrome is a bitch and I talk about this a lot in my social media posts.) 

These are just some of the things that can happen when you don’t follow a self-care routine. The effects can be severe, causing you to lead an unhappy and unfulfilled life. 

So, if you’re looking to lead a happier life, now is the time to start focusing on your needs and making self-care a priority!

For this week, focus on how any of the above are true for you. Be aware. Recognize it. 

Next week I’ll cover the first step to change is to recognize it is needed.

Stay Fierce,
Liz