Too often, we put others before ourselves. Whether that means we take on more work than we can handle, or prioritise the needs of others before we meet our own. Though this demonstrates great kindness, the long term effects can be incredibly damaging. As a result, it is important that you make a fresh start and start putting yourself first. Here’s how!

Ask yourself what you need

You cannot provide for yourself if you don’t have a clear understanding of precisely what you need. Therefore, you might want to grab a pen and paper and ask yourself the following questions: 

• What is making me happy?
• What is making me sad?
• What are my career goals?
• What are my personal goals?
• What do I need to do to achieve my goals?
• What am I missing at the moment?

Writing down your answers will allow you to visualise precisely what you need. This means you can start developing a plan on how you will move forward. Write down a plan of what you want to achieve in the next week, month and year and encourage yourself to stick to it. 

Don’t do it alone

When you are used to putting other people before yourself, you may be afraid to reach out and ask for help. This applies to all aspects of your life, both personal and professional. However, if you are going to start putting yourself first, you are going to need to get comfortable with asking for help and making use of all the resources you have available to you.

For example, if you have been involved in an injury that wasn’t your fault – you may be afraid to contact a lawyer as you don’t want to put pressure on the other party. However, recovering from an injury will cost you valuable time and money and therefore, you must get the compensation you deserve. To do this, you may need the guidance and support of personal injury lawyers, who can guide you through the process of making a claim and ensure you get the money you deserve.

If you have a task, you need to complete at work, focus on getting it done. It would be best if you channelled your energy into completing the task to the best of your ability before you offer to help others with their projects. If you spend time helping others complete their tasks first, your work could suffer. Furthermore, though you must support your colleagues, it is not your responsibility to pick up the slack if they are lazy and trying to delegate their tasks to others – you are part of the machine. The workload should not rest entirely on your shoulders. 

Take a break when you need one

Society encourages us to be continually productive. As a result, we feel as though we are almost in competition with those around us. We want to be the most successful or the busiest. However, you need to understand that there is nothing wrong with taking a break when you need one. The contest you have imagined in your head does not exist – and nobody will think less of you for having a few days off. 

You might also like to read:

• Five Tips For More Effective Time Management
• 3 Business tasks you shouldn’t be doing
• Business tasks you should definitely outsource right now
• Make Life Easier For Yourself As A Business Owner With These Tips
• Work smarter, not harder. Time management + productivity hacks you need to know (incl. free download!)