Do you frequently find yourself putting your own needs aside in order to focus on the needs of your clients, friends, or family?
And while there is nothing wrong with prioritizing work, family or your friends, if you find yourself always putting your own needs last, you may be jeopardizing your success.
No, no one likes self-centered, self-absorbed, arrogant narcissists, but that’s not what the concept of “focusing on yourself” is about.
Rather it’s about recognizing that by focusing on yourself and your own needs and prioritizing them accordingly is the act of caring about yourself and understanding that your needs are equally important.
The reality is this: you cannot keep up with everyone’s desires or try to help them when your own life is falling apart or you have exhausted all of your own resources already.
So if you pride yourself on being “selfless,” reassess what that means to you and the impact it has on your life.
- Do you prefer to give rather than to receive?
- Are you always ready to help out a colleague, but rarely ask for help yourself?
- Do you take on new cases even when you know that you will spread yourself too thin?
- Do you frequently take over projects that are not strategic and do not help you accomplish your own goals?
- Do you put off working on your personal goals because you feel they are less important?
Take an honest look at where you are and realize that by putting yourself last you are doing a great disservice to yourself and those around you.
When you are consistently putting off working on your personal goals or things that matter to you to prioritize other people’s, you are signaling to others that you – as an individual – and your needs are not that important.
The reality is that you are likely feeling drained, exhausted, and not as fulfilled or happy as you want to be.
The solution: get clear on your personal and professional goals and priorities and dedicate adequate amounts of time on a weekly basis to focus on them.
Like getting your office organized, or researching a new dentist in your area, or identifying prospective clients.
If you feel the need to put them off or start feeling guilty because you are not working on that client matter instead, this is a sign that you need to dig deeper to understand what’s really going on.
And if you want to get some support to uncover the root cause, I’ll be happy to help. Reach out to schedule a private session – you’ll be glad you did!