Whether you’re a parent, entrepreneur, student, or just a hard worker in general, there should always be some room to treat yourself to something nice every once in a while. While many people tend to focus their time on things they need to get done, things they need to achieve, but what about those little indulgences? You need something nice to keep you going. Whether you have a major role where you’re constantly busy or just a stress-free job, there is no denying that both roles deserve a break and some time to spoil themselves.
Nowadays there is guilt pressed on society for taking time on yourself. This shouldn’t be the case as everyone needs indulgences as they’re a great pick-me-up and they can really help to keep you going. Whether it’s big or small, here are some reasons why you should get in the habit of treating yourself.
Your mental health needs it
Whenever you do something nice for yourself, your brain releases a little bit of dopamine. A little has the power to go a long way, and it’s always good to give yourself big and small pleasurable treats. This can be something such as eating a cupcake, sleeping in, buying yourself something, or even just watching a show rather than being productive. This is all a part of self-compassion. Self-compassion is simply being kind to yourself and treating yourself the way you deserve to be treated. You need to show love to yourself, this includes forgiving when you made a mistake, nurturing your mind, body, and soul, plus includes being supportive of yourself.
Your mental health needs it, and it’s going to have long-term positive effects on yourself too. Self-compassion can lead to having more mental resilience whenever you’re facing dark times in your life. This also can allow for improved reactions and more determination for achieving goals. You need to know your worth and the first step is getting started on self-compassion. Be your own best friend and start by treating yourself right. You’ve worked hard, you deserve a break, you deserve some slack. If you’re struggling, you deserve to help yourself. Never let guilt get in the way of how you love yourself.
It’s a good step in finding self-validation
Self-validation, also known as “self-worth”, is crucial as you need to be kind to yourself if you ever want to see your worth. This can even include gifts such as rims from ozzytyres.com.au, a new coat, a movie, basically anything gift to yourself on any scale. Lack of self-worth is going to lead to self-torture, which can then lead to a massive health decline such as depression. Treats and gifts to yourself of any size can be seen as a token of self-validation to yourself. This lets you know that you deserve to have indulgences, that you are capable of feeling happiness, that you are allowed to feel positive feelings, and that you can accept yourself for who you are.
It’s all about reinforcement
When it comes to children and pets, people tend to reward them for good behavior, right? This trick is old and has proven true. Animals and humans like positive reinforcement. Just because you’re not a child doesn’t mean you can use positive reinforcement on yourself. Positive reinforcement is a good mental practice as it will help keep your faith up in yourself.
Some examples of mental practice can include blocking bad thoughts, challenging self-doubt, working on triggers, going to therapy, and doing emotional exercises. Writing in a gratitude journal or app has also been known to help as well since it allows the brain to think positively. These all have the power in helping with creating positive reinforcement and they also prove to create resilient individuals. Even the smallest of rewards can have a positive impact on the brain.
Treating yourself isn’t just about enjoying indulgences
While it’s true that spoiling yourself here and there is going to create some wonderful indulgences, it’s best to realize that it can go much further than that. There is a major distinction between gifts that are for indulging your senses and gifts that are meant to nurture your mind, body, and spirit. It’s important to understand that indulging yourself is good, but too much can have negative consequences. Once the negative consequences begin, it no longer nurtures you.
One of the best examples would include eating junk food. There are brain circuits for hunger, but it also can create pleasure in the brain as well. Junk food specifically has the power to do this, so it makes you feel good even though it’s not good for your body. While junk food may taste fantastic and it’s good for the soul, it’s not good for the body. Too much junk food can have negative effects such as health-related issues from diabetes to weight gain.
Nurturing yourself helps in focusing on a purpose within yourself. It’s a way to find your self-worth and your self-respect. Indulging in things can be great, but they should never be a quick fix for whenever you’re feeling down. During these times, it’s important to use self-nurturing methods instead such as affirmation. You deserve to treat yourself well, give yourself positive reinforcement and love. It’s so important to learn the difference between indulgences and nurture.
Your performance will improve
Everyone needs to have a break. Breaks are not bad for you at all or anybody for that matter. In many parts of the work, especially corporate culture, there is this stigma that breaks are bad. That the idea of not being productive makes you lazy and makes you a bad worker. This is further from the truth. Breaks are needed, nobody is superhuman. If you want to maximize your productivity and maintain solid focus, then regular relaxation techniques need to be put in place.
This can include 15 minutes breaks every several hours to clear your mind, getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night, but it can also include vacation time as well. In general, breaks are necessary as they are going to improve productivity and your mental health. Everyone deserves to have a recharge.