How to start taking care of yourself in your 20s? 10 Self-Care tips

Is there a better time than now to start taking care of yourself?

As kids, we were told what to do, how to do it and even when to do things.

Then as adults, we realize no one really cares.

Take care of yourself because no one else will

Taking care of yourself becomes your primary responsibility.

The point is no matter how people look out or take care of you or even ask you to “take care of yourself” during phone calls – you still need to do the work.

If I were to have a conversation with my “20 year old self”, here’s what I’ll say to start taking caring of myself:

10 best tips to take care of yourself

1) Prioritize your Health

In a digital and fast age like now – you can hardly sustain your health without making it a priority.

Gone are the days where everybody eats whole foods, sleeps early, are physically active and go outdoors on default.

Today it’s a choice you have to make.

How to take better care of your health? 

  • Get enough sleep every night.
  • Avoid ultra-processed foods and sugar
  • Exercise daily
  • Minimize unnecessary stress
  • Get outdoors from time to time on purpose to get some fresh air and sunlight all to stay healthy.
  • Sleep 7 – 8 hours daily and take naps when necessary.

2) Fill your cup first

Taking care of yourself starts with you believing that you are worthy of taking care of yourself.

Most times we fall into the extremes of wanting to save others every time or avoiding other people’s problems.

How taking care of yourself equals filling your cup first? 

Think of taking care of yourself like filling up a cup. You can’t give what you don’t have.

If your cup is empty, you have nothing left to give others. So make sure to do things that fill YOU up first.

3) Take care of your mind

Feed your mind with healthy thoughts and knowledge.

If you want to produce actions that can build yourself and others up you can’t afford to consume crap on a daily basis.

Curate the content you consume to high quality contents.

I’d avoid Porn and negative self-talks.

In terms of how you relate to others – gossip, hate and revenge don’t build a healthy mind.

But rather optimism, unconditional love and good communication makes you lead more effectively.

4) Manage your time better

If you’re always feeling overwhelmed – you might be doing something wrong.

It affects your mental health and energy levels.

How to manage your time better in your 20s?

  • Focus on your widely important goals
  • Do one thing at time as against giving in to your distractions
  • Create Systems
  • Outsource when necessary so you can have more time for yourself.

Here’s how my Coach Friend Michael Yeung puts for Entrepreneurs:

“In order to grow, an entrepreneur must become great investors of their time, money and bandwidth… principle applies no matter what stage of growth you’re at 📈

Operate from a state of low clarity and low energy?

We’ll risk giving the above 3 resources away to:

  • Distractions and shiny objects
  • Busy work that produces no results
  • Negative thoughts and reasons why we don’t deserve to have what we want

5) Take care of your body

Treat your body like it were it of the highest value.

I would avoid fapping as much as possible.

Eat healthy foods, exercise regularly and get enough sleep.

Drink Enough Water depending on your physical activity and food choices on any given day.

Limit Alcohol – aim to be sober most of the times.

6) Stop comparing yourself with others

So much energy is spent either comparing yourself to someone, or judging them.

Comparison is the thief of joy.

If you want to start taking care of yourself better, realize how each of us is on our own lane.

Then you stop judging and comparing yourself to others

7) Set boundaries

“𝐁𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞.”

Without boundaries people don’t know how to treat you.

They treat you well today and treat you anyhow tomorrow. But with proper boundaries, you tell people what you stand for and limit unnecessary commotions.

More importantly you become in control of how you react to problems from others.

Learn to say “no” when you need to, and don’t be afraid to put yourself first.

8) Take of your Soul

Treat others the same way you want to be treated.

Pray and meditate often.

Lately, I started thinking of how to incorporate prayers and meditation into my lifestyle apart from when i wake up in the morning then i thought of my dad.

My dad has had a policy which he’s been practicing for years. Wherever he is as much as he can find a place to put his head down – he stops working at 1pm everyday.

Spends at least an hour to meditate and pray before going back to work.

He does same practice most times in the middle of the night when he finds himself awake.

Instead of the usual scrolling of social media many do at night – you find him reading, meditating or praying.

9) Be gentle with yourself

I’m a fan of the saying “Be kind to yourself.”

Which can mean the same thing as being gentle with yourself.

Remember, Self-care is not a guilt trip and is not about being perfect – it’s about being kind to yourself and giving yourself what you need.

That’s why focus all your energy on improvement instead of past failures & guard your space from people who are absorbed by their problems!

Decide what steps you need to take to reach your goals, and put them into a schedule.

10) Create “me time” or “recharge hours”

Too often we get hung up on day-to-day obligations that we fail to unplug, formulate our thoughts and get clear on where we we’re heading towards. 

Set aside time every day as recharge moments or weekly “dates with yourself” and use it however you want – whether that’s reading, taking a bath, going for a walk, or anything else that makes you feel good.

11) Bonus point: Never allow anyone talk you out of your dreams

I would suggest spending 10 minutes every day envisioning what your goals and dreams are.

Picture yourself doing all of the awesome things you want to do with that success.

Don’t try to do too much at once, or you’ll get overwhelmed and give up.

CONCLUSION 

Your daily habits have a  lot to do with your overall well-being and how you feel about yourself. If you eat and sleep well, you will be better prepared and disciplined to tackle your goals.

Self care should be something you do daily. We can all benefit from regularly making time to devote to our own self-care and self-inquiry.

Self-care of yourself includes:
– Exercise for physical and mental health
– Proper rest for optimized thinking
– Meditation for stress management

Taking care of yourself gives you the opportunity to consider what things and people you value in your life, and habits or people you may wish to move on from.

Getting professional help or guidance can fast-track this process to get you to where you aspire to be.

2 thoughts on “How to start taking care of yourself in your 20s? 10 Self-Care tips”

  1. Health should be a priority – lots of people forget about taking care of themselves before something bad happens.

Leave a Comment