If you are a coach, a team leader, or a motivator you are used to helping others tackle their goals. With the start of 2016 close by where are you on the scale which starts in Excitement and ends in Overwhelming Anxiety?

We can’t all be upbeat 24/7. Sometimes our inner critical voice interrupts our excitement. We are developing into a new area and then BAM! up comes a story from the past where things didn’t go as planned.

Your Stories Have Value

I have supported enough people engaged in professional development as coaches etc to have heard a lot of stories about 2015’s challenges. Building up knowledge, likability and trust is hard work.

To be fair you also hear a lot of optimism about the new opportunities coming in 2016 and how learning lessons from the past can help shape the future.

Self Care Comes First

From what I have heard (and experienced) it makes sense to have a healthy balance between the positive energy you share with others and the wisdom you tap into from your own stories.

Speaking at London’s Business Show recently Britain’s number 1 motivational speaker Brad Burton made a brilliant point about the balance between useful stories and achieving results for others.

Reflecting on his own efforts to get the balance right over the years he said

Your story starts now. Pay attention to caring for yourself, your family and your business.

Your business goal might be achieving good results in your 9 to 5; enjoying success in your part time startup gig; or organising a knockout Christmas social for 100 people. Either way having a healthy balance helps produce good results for others and a feeling of satisfaction for you.

Inspired by Brad here are 4 self care strategies to reduce overwhelm, which you can start using today.

1. Pay attention to the quality of your contributions – family, colleagues and customers appreciate your efforts. If you over do it trying to be active all the time with everyone in your life the quality of what you achieve goes down.  
2. Respect others’ boundaries and your own – if you have too much on your plate you can’t offer your best self to others. It is ok to set time when you won’t be available because those limits mean you can focus your time on your priorities.
3. Care about your results within reason – while you recognise that some outcomes don’t call for 100% of your effort (because 80% will still produce good results).
4. Decide how often you are going to review your needs – setting time to check in with yourself means you remain mindful of your own maintenance / development priorities. That helps you keep a fresh focus when you are supporting others’ development.

Want To Learn More?

Thanks for reading this far. If you have ideas about the value of self care please leave your comments below. Feel free to share the post if you have found it helpful.

If you are ready ready to start 2016 by making positive changes to your professional work which benefits others take a moment and follow this link https://experienceyourlife.coachesconsole.com/

There you will find a FREE tool you can download by clicking the blue button (in exchange for your contact details) which will help you focus your attention on your biggest priority issue. You will start making improvements from there, if you keep taking action.

If you would like to learn more about the support I offer to coaches, thought leaders, inspiring speakers and others please schedule a discovery conversation with me using the calendar function on the right of the page (where it says Click Here).