When it comes to self care, it can be difficult to strike the right balance between taking care of yourself and making good choices. Self care can be a range of actions that benefit your mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing. Self-care is prioritizing your needs.

Also, self-care isn't a lot of things either. If it becomes habitual to reach for some indulgent habits in the name of self-care, then it can actually damage your health over time.

If you’d like to achieve true self care, there are some self-care missteps that you need to avoid in order not to sabotage your results.

It's easy to get enthused about embarking on a self care journey and want to take on everything that goes along with it right away; these are all things that take time, money (sometimes) and effort. Have a monthly self-care budget to ensure you keep your spending at an acceptable level, or find a self-care practice that requires no cost or low cost.

Self care is about addressing your needs and taking time for yourself. However, if you attempt too many tasks at once, you will likely end up failing and giving up, instead of building habits that last and have a positive effect.

It is important to note that even though self care is all about you, it doesn’t mean you should be alone - it helps to find a support system. Sharing your journey with someone is a great way to not only stick with a self care routine, but to enjoy it even more. Having others who are interested in self-care can help you stay motivated and on track.

When it comes to self care, it can be easy to put those activities on the back burner when life gets busy. However, if this starts to happen every day it can become a habit to put yourself and your needs on hold for all of your other commitments. If you don't consistently practice self-care, you won't be able to reap the full benefits.

It’s important to be aware if you are the type of person who might tend to use self-care as a form of avoidance. Self-care has been known to become self sabotage when we avoid engaging with friends and family or addressing deeper issues. It's always about striking a balance. If you need time to yourself, go ahead and cancel plans if you can. However, if you start using ‘self-care’ as a reason to repeatedly avoid commitments or connection with others, then you are developing unhappy and unhealthy habits that need to be addressed and worked on.

It's all about you - that's what self-care is all about. As a result, what works for one person might not work for the next. Start somewhere, bench the guilt, find what works, and make sure it actually is something that will have an ongoing benefit, not the opposite effect!