Thrive In 2023 And Beyond: 10 Power Habits To Be Self-Supportive
Being self supportive is one of the best things you can do for yourself. When you are self supportive, you don’t need anyone else to take care of you, provide for your needs, or support you. Instead, you can rely entirely on yourself to feel satisfied and happy while also thriving. In 2023, commit to being a more self supportive person by adopting these ten power habits.
Embrace feeling all your emotions – even the really big and challenging ones.
Big, challenging emotions like guilt, anger, frustration, shame, and beyond can feel impossibly crushing. Some of these emotions are so intimidating that people try to handle them by not really handling them at all. For example, when faced with a big emotion, you may find yourself tempted to hide or ignore it in the hopes that it will go away or resolve itself. However, this is never the case. Big emotions always return, often worse than when they originated.
Get into the powerful habit of processing your emotions in real-time. Let yourself analyze those feelings and take note of how they are affecting you. Even though it may be difficult as you work through the process, you’ll notice that the bad feelings will disappear quicker when you let yourself go ahead and feel them instead of ignoring them. Sometimes, being self supportive means going through difficult emotional experiences so you can exit them stronger.
Get comfortable with asking for help when you need it.
This may seem like counterintuitive advice for someone who wants to develop more self supportive habits, but learning how to ask for help from other people – especially when you really need it – is a major skill to have. Many people feel uncomfortable asking someone else for help; learning how to move past those reservations is essential to keep yourself from experiencing excess stress, burnout, and more. Rather than worrying about what someone will think of you for needing help, practice asking for help when you need it. Working through a problem with someone you trust instead of trying to tackle it alone is an excellent way to be more self supportive.
Make taking good care of yourself a top priority.
Your self care is incredibly important. You can’t be self supportive if you aren’t meeting your needs and feeling your best. Make sure you are including plenty of time in your schedule for rest, bodily hygiene, medical checkups, and anything else you need to do to feel your very best. If you aren’t feeling well or meeting your needs, it’s tough to feel like you have any control elsewhere in life.
Be mindful of the company you choose to keep.
Another great way to be more self supportive is to pay close attention with whom you’re spending most of your time. Are you spending time with positive people who uplift and support you, or are you spending time with negative naysayers who invite toxicity into your life? Make sure you’re choosing to hang with the positive and supportive folks – their good attitudes will help you be a far more self supportive person.
Develop some basic routines to help automate specific parts of your daily life.
Routines are far from boring – you can establish some great routines to make the “everyday” parts of living much easier. For example, you can be more self supportive with a good set of routines that help you prepare for bedtime, finish your household chores, and pay your bills on time. All of these are necessary for your overall well being, and having some good routines in place ensures that you’re self supporting in a way that will help you get these things done.
Use lists, calendars, and schedules to keep up with everything you need to do.
A busy life can be difficult to organize. If you need help being more self supportive by feeling like you’re in control of your schedule and to-do list, start using physical tools to keep yourself organized. You’ll be able to self support easier when you know exactly what you need to do and when you need to do it.
Treat your time like a precious, finite resource.
You only get so much time on Earth, so spend that time wisely! Treat your time like the precious, finite resource it is. Rather than wasting your time on things that don’t truly speak to you or help you, schedule your time with yourself in mind. Treating your time carefully is a great way to be self supportive because it ensures you are getting the most out of your life.
Use grounding techniques to recenter and refocus yourself, especially when you’re feeling stressed or anxious.
If stress and anxiety get you down, practice using some common grounding techniques such as deep breathing or meditation to recenter and refocus yourself. These are easy and accessible ways to regain control over yourself when everything feels out of control, making them excellent tools to use when you need to be more self supportive in the heat of a stress-inducing moment.
Practice listening to your intuition and following its guidance.
Your intuition, your gut feelings, your instincts – whatever you like to call that little all-knowing voice inside of you, practice listening to it! Your intuition is one of your most valuable personal resources, and when you practice listening to it and following its guidance, you can find great success in the world. Use this resource to be more self supportive. You are wiser than you realize, and your intuition’s guidance can show you this truth.
Play up your personal strengths whenever you have the opportunity to do so.
All people are born with their own unique sets of strengths and weaknesses. One of the most wonderful habits you can develop to be more self supportive is to take advantage of opportunities to use your strengths. When you see yourself succeed by playing toward your strengths, you reinforce your own sense of self confidence and self worth.
