Latest / Harder Than Life / 128: Busy? Stressed? Here’s Why You Can’t Afford to Skip Self-Care

Transcript

128: Busy? Stressed? Here’s Why You Can’t Afford to Skip Self-Care · Harder Than Life

• 0:07
  I'm Kelly Siegel, and this is Harder Than Life, a podcast about self-love, self-awareness, business, and health. We tell outrageous stories and boil everything down to simple, practical advice you can start using today. Let's get living. Welcome back to the Harder Than Life podcast and to the Harder Than Life Nation. But today we're going to cut through the excuses. I hear it all the time. I don't have time for self-care. I don't have time for personal growth.
• 0:35
  Let me be real with you. You don't have time not to. If you're always exhausted, unfocused, and feeling like you're running on fumes, you're not just busy, you're out of alignment. And if you don't fix it now, you're headed for burnout. Today.
• 0:55
  I'm giving you battle-tested systems for prioritizing self-care and personal development. Even if you have zero free time, this isn't about taking spa days and reading for two hours. This is about maximizing every minute and making self-care non-negotiable. Before we dive in, I'm going to take you back for a second and tell you how my life used to be.
• 1:17
  I used to run full throttle every single day. That's how I came up with harder than life. As a matter of fact, being harder than life, part of the issue is that I feel like it has to be hard. So I manifest that. But I would run, run, run, run, run, go, go, go, go. And that was a badge of honor. Since I adapted personal development, we're on a six-year journey now, but really deep, heavy, where I live, breathe, and eat it.
• 1:47
  For the last four years, my life has gotten easier, calmer. I allow and I attract into my life. So listen to this episode and you will get mass production. This is literally what is peace, clarity and freedom. And understand what I'm talking about. Peace of mind. So the number one thing I want you to do is win the first 30 minutes of every single day.
• 2:14
  How you start your day determines how you show up for everything else. Most people wake up, immediately grab their phone. They start their day on autopilot, reacting instead of leading. Here's the fix. Own the first 30 minutes of your day. Your morning routine should include hydration. I literally guzzle an entire bottle of water as I'm high-fiving myself in the mirror. That's a bonus.
• 2:41
  Before I take any coffee, any pre-workout, anything that gets in my body, boom, a big glass of water. So movement, stretch, walk, or do a quick workout. Mindset, read, or meditate. Why it all matters. Your first action set the tone for your entire day. If you start rushed, distracted, and overwhelmed, you'll stay that way. If you start focused, disciplined, and intentional, focused.
• 3:11
  you'll dominate. So come up with a 30 minute morning routine and commit to it tomorrow. I'm just going to tell you really quickly again, you haven't heard, if you don't follow, you're paying attention. My first 30 minutes is pretty quick. Now I do break my own cardinal sin, but I do it with one caveat. I do grab my phone first thing. Actually, technically it's the second thing. The first thing I do is I wake up and my eyes have gratitude. And then I
• 3:39
  I say three things I'm grateful for, and they're always something different. Then I do grab my phone, but I only grab it for the daily calm because I do a quick 10-minute meditation. I walk into my bathroom, high-five the mirror. I guzzle that glass of water, and then I start getting ready for the gym. Boom, boom, boom. That's my morning routine, guys. I've done it every day. That I've actually done for years, even when pretty hard-of-the-life days.
• 4:04
  And it helps me set my day. If for some reason I got to catch a 6 a.m. flight and I mess up that routine, my whole day is off. Just start it with intention. How do you want your day to go? Forget grabbing the phone and looking at social media. It is the worst way to start your day off. Set your 30-minute routine and commit to it tomorrow. The number two thing I want you to do is stack habits into your existing routine.
• 4:30
  No extra time. I hear that all the time. Stack new habits into things you already do. Most people fail at self-improvement because they try to squeeze new habits into a packed schedule. The cheat code, the hack, so to speak, attach personal growth to something you already do. Examples of this, those things that I do. While brushing your teeth, you can do gratitude. While driving, listen to self-improvement audiobooks.
• 4:59
  While making coffee, meditate for two minutes. While showering, positive affirmations. Because once you get used to it, you'll like it, and then you'll make time for it. Because you show me your schedule, I'm gonna show you your priorities. So I started with these small little gratitude, these small little meditations, and now it is part of my daily ethos. I have to do it. So start small and grow.
• 5:27
  There's no excuse. But choose one habit and attach it to something you do already daily. Again, just one thing. I'm not asking you to make a whole reset. So if you're not putting gratitude in, add gratitude. You're not doing the meditation, add a walking meditation. If you're not drinking the water, get a big jug and put it right by your bed. No excuses, guys. Excuses don't get results.
• 5:55
  Number three, and you're going to hear this is off of the first podcast solo episode we did, the Sunday reset. Plan self-care like a meeting. That's part of my Sunday days. I got to make sure that I can start my days off the way I want to do it. So if you don't schedule it, it won't happen.
• 6:14
  People prioritize work meetings, deadlines, and appointments, but not themselves. You are your most important investment. Put yourself first. Self-care is not selfish. So here's the fix. Treat your personal growth like it's a business meeting. The Sunday reset ritual that we talked about in episode one, in the first solo episode, is schedule your self-care and growth activities just like you schedule work.
• 6:42
  I now have my second workout because you guys all know I need to get to 500 workouts. That's my goal. That means I got to do a lot of two-a-days. I now have at 2.30 to 3.30 scheduled off to go to the gym for the second time. I'm there at 5 a.m. I'm there again at 2.30. By the way, this little hack has worked out. This is another bonus thing. It's worked out really well. It's given me the energy to go for another four hours of working.
• 7:11
  So set one to three personal growth goals for the week. Review last week's progress, what worked, what didn't. So what I want you to do again is a recap. Every Sunday, block out time for you. Even 15 minutes to plan your week changes everything. So again, on your Sundays, you're planning your work. Put in your personal development. It can be, you know one thing I didn't say is read a book. 10 minutes a day to read.
• 7:39
  I make sure I can get my 10 pages. And that's all I'm asking for, 10 pages in. And every little bit counts and you'll start compounding it. When I first started going to the gym, I lifted the bar. And then I put on 10 pounds. And then I put on 20 pounds. And you see how it works. Compounding activities. Number four is energy over time. Optimize your body and mind.
• 8:04
  don't need more time, you need more energy. Most people aren't busy. They're just exhausted, unfocused, and inefficient. Self-care isn't just about relaxing. It's about increasing your energy so you perform better. Three energy-boosting hacks that take no extra time. You keep hearing me say it, people. Drink 16 ounces of water before coffee in the morning. Take walking breaks, move
• 8:33
  Even if it's for 30 seconds, if you drink so much water, you'll end up going to the bathroom a lot. So there's your walk. But during that time, think of gratitude. Deep breathing is another hack. Before a stressful task, inhale for four seconds, hold for four seconds, exhale for four seconds.
• 8:53
  Another bonus thing in here to do is to make a list of everything you're doing in a day and eliminate the things that aren't moving you forward. For me, it was very, very, very simple. I realized I wasn't eating enough. Can you believe that? I'm 225 pounds of pure muscle and I wasn't eating enough because I was prioritizing all my content, all of my self-care.
• 9:14
  And I was forgetting the most important thing is to fuel my energy. So now if you're watching, if you watch my morning mantras, my seagull sayings that I do every morning on my story on Instagram, you can see me already cutting up and getting bigger. And that's from eating more. So it's the small little things. All right. Fifth thing. This is massive. It's the 80-20 rule. Cut the bullshit. Prioritize growth.
• 9:45
  Most people waste time on low-value activities and claim they're too busy. The 80-20 rule. 80% of your results come from 20% of your actions. Where are you wasting time? Here's some. Social media. Netflix. Scrolling your phone. Replace these distractions with self-growth. 10 minutes off of social media. 10 minutes with 10 minutes of reading. Skip one Netflix episode.
• 10:15
  30 minutes of working out or walking. This is what I specifically want you to do. Guys, and I'm going to tell you this. Listen, Heart of Life Nation, this is big. I'm guilty of all this. We all are. Just take one of these. Listen to the message. Leave my mess. I see myself, every break I have, I flip open social media and I do a quick scroll to see what my friends are doing. And I've stopped that. That's why I took that 11-day break
• 10:43
  phone vacation because I was addicted to seeing. I want everybody to win. So I'm looking at my, my coachees. I'm looking at everybody's just to make sure everybody's kicking butt. I've cut that out because that is, it would distract me. So identify one time wasting habit and swap it with a growth habit. Do it today.
• 11:05
  So set a 10-minute social media limit and use that time for something productive. I hate to go on and beat up social media because that's what most of you guys follow me on and get my – but it's not advancing you. It is keeping you small, keeping you where you are. And then the worst part about it is it keeps you thinking that your stinking thinking is correct. So because the algorithm is built to keep showing you things that you already know, so it reinforces these behaviors.
• 11:36
  Start following people of different walks of life. Jumble up that algorithm. And most importantly, limit the social media time. You can set a timer in your phone. So you wouldn't cancel an important meeting. So stop canceling on yourself.
• 11:53
  People show up for their jobs, families, and responsibilities, but they ditch their own needs. Self-care and personal growth aren't optional luxuries. They're necessities. They're non-negotiable mindset. If it's in the calendar, you do it. If you say you'll do it, you follow through. You are as important as any meeting deadline or client. So start treating yourself with the same respect you give your commitments to others.
• 12:23
  Again, pick one of these habits and treat it as a non-negotiable this week. No time, no more excuses. Most people will listen to this and do nothing. The winners will take action, self-care, and personal growth. Don't take time. They give you more time by making you more effective. If you feel too busy, take care of yourself. That's exactly why you need this.
• 12:52
  No more waiting. No more excuses. Start now. And if you want help, we do have the Heart and Life Nation, the coaching program. You can DM me, growth, coaching. Tell me a habit. But the first thing I want you to do is tell me a habit you're committed to doing first, and then we'll come back with a plan. And if you want more, you can join the Heart and Life Nation and get our weekly calls.
• 13:23
  Listen, people, life is hard. We shouldn't make it harder with our decisions.
• 13:31
  And once you get on that momentum train, it snowballs into a positive. I started this during the pandemic while everybody was day drinking and not working. There was no gyms open, so I ran around the neighborhood and said, I'm going to get in the best physical and mental shape of my life. I started listening to podcasts, reading more, doing push-ups and sit-ups, and here I am before you with a top 20 podcast, giving you all the tools,
• 14:01
  be harder than life, to be happier than life, and to be healthier than life. So I hope you got something out of this. Please rate it. Please share it with a friend who may need this and be kind to one another, be happy, be awesome, and be harder than life.
• 14:22
  Please rate and share this podcast. I'm active on all social platforms and love to hear from my Segal supporters. Each and every episode is sponsored by my company, National Technology Management, the easiest and best IT company to do business with, delivering peace of mind with technology every day, even simplifying cybersecurity. Visit TrustNTM.com for more info. Until next week, be harder than life.