Self-Care is NOT vanity. It’s your TOP Shelf Priority.
The disease to please has created a new identity, conversely promoting daily self-care. What’s up, Baddie, Bad Gyal, Trending Gyal, Hot Gyal? All the names that propel us to the top of the pecking order in the 21st Century. We wear these titles as badges of honor, as though we are in some adult version of Girl Guides, where the awards propagate the burnout culture and the busy phenomenon.
Self-promotion is an addictive empowerment drug. At the drop of a dime, everyone, me too sis, is 100% ready to prove that they are the woman who could do it all: be a high-powered career executive and a great mother.
Post-pandemic, this culture was supercharged as the expectations for women elevated from child bearer, nurturer, and successful businesswoman to fitness and wellness guru, IG baddie, mom of the Century, and course, you can’t be a dunce, you must be able to hold your own among your male counterparts.
Covid has created a new Bad Gyal or playfully put baddies. To be a Baddie, you must be dynamic and have a grand vision for impact on the world. I get Bad Gyal Burn out even thinking about it. We have been trained to rise early, burn the midnight oil and sacrifice for the benefit of our family, and do it all, looking fabulous as hell and yes, sis, do it all with a smile.
This post-Covid Bad Gyal Culture is symptomatic of a deeply ingrained societal imbalance that the pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated. For multiple reasons, women, particularly mothers, are still more likely than men to manage a more complex set of responsibilities daily- and often-unpredictable combination of unpaid domestic chores and paid professional work.
Every day, we juggle these moving parts and continuously try not to drop the ball. Most times, things slip through our fingers, and there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. Though the mental strain of mastering this balancing act has been apparent for decades, Covid-19 has cast a particularly harsh light on the problem. Statistics show that stress burnout affects more women than men, mainly working mothers than fathers.
Not only can this imbalance impact the post-pandemic world of work, but it can also damage your health, family, and society. Covid has created a different reality for women; the work hustle was replaced with home responsibilities, and our health needs took priority.
Efficiency Coach Ayana Caesar (MBA) has worked with women worldwide to help organize their lives. “Women went through three major shifts over the last four years. Women went from Pre-Covid-Self-Sacrifice Mode to During Covid -I can do it all Mode, to Post-Covid- I want it all, but how? Mode” “The Trinidadian-born mom and entrepreneur. Agrees that it’s critical to find ways to reduce the imbalance and help women through this new phenomenon.
“It’s critical to find ways to reduce the imbalance. I don’t subscribe to work-life balance. I call it work-life symmetry,” says Ayana. “If you think about it, balance means everything must be equal at any given moment. I tell my clients to focus on symmetry. Prioritize things at that moment, and find a way to streamline the chaos,”.
Selfcare is the remedy for the new Bad Gyal Burn Out Culture. It’s no longer self-care Sundays; it’s self-care Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays; it’s self-care always. Self-care has moved to the top shelf and is the key to creating symmetry.
Fortunately for us Bad Gyals, we are born and live in a time where we have the pleasure and freedom to complete ourselves. To be so full, we are overflowing to the point that we can share with everyone. Self-care is not vanity; it is your top-shelf priority, and that’s highly personal. It’s a ritual that fills your cup, looks different to everyone, and changes with the time and season.
The goal is to develop a personalized, sustainable self-care routine using these four easy STEPS Define, Identify, Set Boundaries, and Schedule.
CREATE A PERSONALIZED, SUSTAINABLE SELF-CARE ROUTINE
1. Define
Define what self-care means to you in keeping with your physical, spiritual, emotional, and mental needs.
2. Identify
Identify things that bring fulfillment and meaning to you. This is a highly intimate process. There is no rule book on Self-Care. It’s not what’s in trend or the current self-care fads; it’s specific to you. Jot down these activities on paper. Be very specific. Record the action, why it’s essential, and how it makes you feel. Categorize the activities, Rate them from Extremely fulfilling, Satisfying, and Good Enough.
3. Set Boundaries
Carefully assess the things that can disturb your self-care routine. Find mitigating strategies to deal with these issues. You may have a 4 am gym time routine; what is needed to ensure this happens? Or it would be best if you had an evening walk or hike. Put things in place; it may mean notifying everyone that your phone will be switched off during that time.
4. Schedule
Create a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule. Ensure that self-care is at the center of your daily to-do list. Tailor your self-care needs in keeping with the current realities. For example, I love going to the gym and engaging with my trainer, but sometimes, I may have to settle for an online session, cardio, or hiking.
CS FAB
GFM, MBA, MA
Global Fashion Marketing, Public Relations, and Social Media Strategist
Holistic Health and Wellness Coach
Keto, Yogic, and Intermittent Fasting Coach
Body Contouring Specialist csfab@caribbeantimes.com www.caribbeantimes.com/csfab
Instagram: csfab_forum
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