December 2020

You may know you need to develop healthier habits and invest in taking better care of yourself, but life can get in the way of your good intentions. Creating a self-care plan transforms your intentions into concrete goals and helps you establish strategies to make them achievable.

Here are some tips for successfully setting yourself up for self-care.

Cover All the Bases

While there may be one or two health goals you’d most like to focus on, your self-care plan should be comprehensive and include physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and interpersonal health.

Evaluate How You’re Currently Doing

Start with a self-assessment to see how well you’re doing now. You can create your own evaluation form, or you can find ready-made forms online by searching for free “self-care plan template” and “self-care plan worksheet.”

Recognizing what you’re doing right is important too. Give yourself credit if you’re already eating lots of fresh fruit and vegetables or taking on fewer stressful tasks. Even small successes can be encouraging.

Set Goals to Get Better

After your self-assessment, figure out which areas need improvement. Then write out a plan to create a clear path for change.

To keep from feeling overwhelmed, start with a single goal for each category. For example, you might resolve to replace your usual lunchtime soda with a glass of water.

Setting simple goals will make self-care feel less like a chore and more like second nature, so aim for strategies you can easily incorporate into your daily life.