While it may not come naturally to some, focusing on yourself is the best thing you can do as it’s can be considered an act of self-love. When you focus on yourself, you’re showing others that you deserve to be invested in.
You’re giving yourself the attention and care you’ve always deserved. Not everyone gets the chance to do so as it’s easy to get caught up investing time in others from day to day. Focusing on yourself is more than being attentive, but it’s being attuned to your needs and wants.
What It Means to Focus on Yourself
When we say focus on yourself, this means looking inwards and giving yourself everything you need and deserve – but not in an entitlement sense. Oftentimes, we’re so focused on providing for others that we fail to focus on ourselves first. This also means listening to your mind, heart, and body and being attentive to what it needs.
We live in a world that’s extremely fast-paced to a certain extent…that we don’t always provide ourselves the affection and care we need. Focusing on yourself means looking introspectively and to learn everything about your needs and wants. Otherwise, a lack of focus will cause exhaustion, burnout, and fatigue.
11 Simple Ways to Focus on Yourself
1. Reflect on what you want
This may sound extremely simple, but it’s hard to figure out what you want alone. Focusing on yourself means knowing what you want and don’t want as it’s all part of the process.
2. Start with small changes
Once you figure out what you want, you don’t have to overwhelm yourself with drastic changes immediately. It’s an adequate step to start with minor changes since you’ll eventually progress.
3. Start with basic needs
If you can’t think of specific goals, start with what you need such as exercise, diet, and the other simple lifestyle needs. You can start by doing a 5-minute walk every morning and see if that helps.
4. Try journaling
Writing down your thoughts and feelings is one of the most underrated yet important ways of releasing what you feel. We have a lot of repressed emotions than you think, which is what journaling provides. It acts as a great way to get your thoughts out on paper.
5. Find a new hobby
Trying new things is a great way to grow and expand your knowledge and experience. Find a skill or hobby you’ve always wanted to try, not something that will make you look good on paper. Otherwise, this defeats the purpose of focusing on yourself.
6. Avoid comparing yourself
Whether in the digital or personal sense, you shouldn’t compare yourself to others. Social media, specifically, is where comparison is so easy to do – be careful about getting caught up in that.
7. Take a break from social media
You’ll be surprised to see how social media can affect your mental health if you aren’t careful enough. It’s full of highlight reels, so it’s all a facade. Taking a break lets you live your life in the present, rather than what others think of you.
8. Shift your focus
Instead of always focusing on other people’s needs, it’s time to put that focus on yourself. You deserve love and attention just as much as others do and it’s time you put that love into action.
9. Find peers that are good for you
Finding people who share your goals and dreams is the best thing in the world. You are the summary of the people you spend most of your time with so you have to be careful.
10. Check in with yourself often
There’s nothing bad about checking with yourself as you would do with a friend. In fact, this ensures that you’re healthy and growing.
11. Don’t be hard on yourself
Specifically, when you’re anxious or going through a difficult situation, don’t forget to go easy on yourself. There’s no reason why you should be extra harsh on yourself since you wouldn’t do that to others.
The Importance of Focusing on Yourself
Emotional exhaustion or burnout is one of the common things that happen when you avoid focusing on yourself often. This means that you rarely have time for yourself, but your focus is almost always outward.
When you place your attention on yourself and everything you are, you become the happiest and healthiest version of yourself. You aren’t likely to become drained since you’re taking care of your needs properly.
The Benefits of Focusing on Yourself
1. You become better
It’s easy to lose yourself when you stop being attentive to your needs. Focusing on yourself means you take care of your physical, emotional, and mental health properly.
2. Others are drawn to you
There’s something about how confident people hold themselves that sets them apart from others. In this sense, they focus on themselves as much as they do for others. Others will be naturally drawn to you when you gain confidence from focusing on yourself and not elsewhere.
3. You are happier
You aren’t feeling exhausted, drained, or tired since you’re focusing on yourself properly. This is just one of the many benefits that focusing on your needs can provide.
4. You deal with difficult situations better
A lot of the times, we refuse to deal with negativity because we aren’t equipped to do so. Focusing on yourself means you know how to deal even with bad situations properly without being impulsive.
5. You’ll have your needs met
It’s only natural that when you focus on yourself, your needs will be properly met. You won’t feel a lack of love and wholeness in your life.
Final Thoughts
I hope this article was able to shed insight into focusing on yourself. When you shift your focus to yourself instead of on others, you’ll see a massive change in your life accordingly.
Focusing on yourself is how you live a better and happier life since you won’t be drained trying to be everything for everyone else – that’s an impossible standard. Instead, by focusing on yourself, you’re taking care of your energy, goals, and needs appropriately.