“Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.”- M. Scott Peck

A lot of times we, as women, do not carve out enough time for ourselves and we end up putting our needs last. Don’t we deserve some “me time”? Aren’t you a priority? If you look at your schedule for the past week or so, how much time was dedicated to everything and everyone else and not you?

True wealth is internal and external. The only way to even get close to internal wealth, called wellness, is by creating and using a chunk of your time for your self care. And as a reminder, self care is deeper than getting your nails and hair done. But for many of us, that’s the one and only thing we do consistently and we think that’s enough to sustain ourselves. When we neglect our wellness it affects those around us. And it certainly affects how we view and spend our money.

Self care doesn’t have to be expensive and it can be any range of things you want (or need) to do to maintain or refresh your mind, body, or soul. Here’s some examples:

- a therapy session

- taking yourself on a date

- hiring a coach or trainer in any area of life

- taking a class in something you’re interested in

- beauty, cosmetic, or wellness services

- investing in yourself in any other way you want

When you consistently practice self care, you go about life with a fresher perspective, and not one that is burned out. You start to make decisions from a place of abundance, not one of lack….because you are operating from a place of fullness. It’s also important to note that committing to self care means you actively carved out time for something that is non-negotiable. The same should be done for everything else we consider our priorities. A lot of personal development experts say once you commit to a fitness routine, for example, it helps you grow in other areas too, because it’s a mindset shift. The same can be true for a self care routine.

And for many of us, wealth building also requires a mindset shift and a commitment to wise money management. It requires us to make decisions from a place of fullness, instead of lack. After all, there’s a difference between being poor and being broke.

Self care is essential to building wealth, that is if you want to sustain yourself. After all, who wants to be totally burnt out and mentally strained but rich. True wealth is internal and external. If you work on the internal wealth, the external wealth will come much easier.

You wouldn’t think it made sense to put your last few hundred dollars into a risky investment because you’re desperate for a good return. When you are burnt out mentally, emotionally and physically, it may seem like a good idea because you’re not in the right headspace. But if you valued your time, energy and resources, as shown by your non-negotiables and from a healthy and whole perspective, you would likely make a better decision and invest in something else.

Start with listing your priorities and figure out how much money it is going to cost you monthly. One of those things should be something to take care of yourself. If you don’t feel you have enough money to commit to a self care routine, there’s 2 options: reduce the expense for something else or figure out how to make more money. Once you decide on that, you would have already started in the right direction towards a mindset shift which will help you start building wealth.

We have a couple of resources over on shopqlm.com that we know will be helpful for both self care and money management. Just remember- self care is an essential part of building wealth!