NFA Finance

Today’s prompt caught me a little bit.

My first thought was pretty simple:

I don’t.

At least not intentionally.

I work out. I’ve been doing push-ups every day for more than a decade. I try to stay active. I pay attention to what I eat. There are things I do every day that somebody else would probably call self-care.

But I don’t really look at them that way.

They’re habits.

They’ve become so ingrained in my life that I don’t wake up and decide whether I’m going to do them. I just do them.

And that got me thinking about something bigger.

I’m Intentional About Almost Everything Else

I think about business.

I think about money.

I think about what I’m building.

I think about content, cars, real estate, the next opportunity, the next project and what I can accomplish today that puts me a little farther ahead tomorrow.

I’m constantly asking myself:

What’s next?

There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that. In fact, I like living that way.

I like having something to chase.

I like waking up with a purpose.

I like feeling like the things I do today are building something bigger.

But somewhere along the way, it becomes very easy to put yourself at the bottom of your own list.

Not because you don’t care about yourself.

Because there’s always something else that feels more important.

Another phone call.

Another video.

Another deal.

Another problem.

Another idea.

Another thing that needs to get done.

And before you know it, taking care of yourself becomes something you’ll get around to when everything else is finished.

The problem is, everything else is never finished.

Being Productive Isn’t the Same as Taking Care of Yourself

This is probably the part I need to work on.

I’m good at being productive.

I’m good at pushing.

I’m good at getting up and doing something whether I feel like doing it or not.

But doing something purely because I enjoy it?

Taking a couple of hours without needing those hours to produce something?

Shutting my brain off without feeling like I should be working on the next thing?

I’m not nearly as intentional about that.

And maybe self-care doesn’t have to mean massages, spas, candles or whatever image immediately comes to mind when somebody says the words.

Maybe it can be simpler than that.

Going for a drive with nowhere I have to be.

Getting out on the water.

Working on a car because I actually enjoy working on it, not because it needs to become a project or a piece of content.

Sitting somewhere for an hour without trying to turn that hour into money.

Spending time with somebody I care about and leaving the phone alone.

Or occasionally doing absolutely nothing — and not feeling guilty about it.

That last one might be the hardest.

I Don’t Think I Need to Slow Down

And I want to make that distinction.

I don’t want to slow my life down.

I like the direction I’m going.

I like building things.

I like having big goals.

I like waking up hungry.

I don’t want a life where I spend half the day trying to escape from the other half.

I like my life. I just need to remember to live some of it.

There’s a difference.

Maybe the answer isn’t doing less.

Maybe the answer is becoming as intentional about myself as I am about everything I’m trying to accomplish.

Because if something matters to me, I make time for it.

I’ve proven that over and over again.

So saying, “I don’t have time for self-care,” isn’t really accurate.

The truth is that I haven’t made it a priority.

That’s different.

And it’s something I can change.

Put Yourself on the List

Maybe that’s what today’s prompt taught me.

I don’t need some dramatic lifestyle overhaul.

I don’t need to disappear for a month.

I don’t need to become somebody I’m not.

I probably just need to start putting myself on the same list that contains everything else I care about.

Work out because it makes me stronger.

Take the drive because I enjoy driving.

Get on the water because it’s a beautiful day.

Take an afternoon off because I can.

Spend time with people who make life better.

And occasionally allow an experience to exist without asking what I’m going to get out of it.

Because not every hour of life needs an ROI.

Some of it can just be life.

I spend a lot of time thinking about what I’m building.

Maybe part of building a great life is making sure I actually leave myself enough time to enjoy the damn thing.

So how do I make time for self-care?

Right now, the truthful answer is:

I really don’t.

But maybe that’s exactly why I needed today’s question.

I don’t need to do less with my life.

I need to get better at including myself in the list of things I’m intentional about.


— Nicholas Francis
NFAFinance.com