Take extremely good care of yourself

I've noticed that my personal care routine has slipped lately. I've not been doing the exercise or drinking the water like I usually do. I've decided to (literally) take my own advice by re-reading Tip 19 in my soon-to-be-published book: 'Successfully Single: 101 ways for newly-single women to get a life they love after a break-up' (yeah - I know - blatant self-promotion but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do). So here it is - Tip 19...

Taking extremely good care of yourself - physically, emotionally and financially is a recurring theme throughout this book. Don't ever feel selfish or guilty for taking good care of yourself - your first responsibility is to yourself. (Remember that on a plane, a mother is told to put on her own oxygen mask in an emergency situation before attending to her child.)

Start by planning to take extremely good care of yourself physically. Make a list of 10 things that you will do every single day to really take care of yourself. My own list looks something like this:

1. Drink at least 8 glasses of water
2. Exercise for at least 30 minutes
3. Eat at least 5 portions of fruit and veg
4. Get 8 hours sleep
5. Eat breakfast
6. Use a moisturizer with an SPF factor of at least 15
7. Learn something new
8. Use a good body lotion after showering/bathing
9. Stop eating 3 hours before I plan on going to bed
10. Eat smaller portions

Other examples include always taking your make-up off at night, buffing your nails every day, flossing your teeth daily or always using a condom - I'm sure you can think of plenty of your own.

Action Point

Make up a chart so that you can watch your progress by ticking off the activities you have completed each day. Don't give up if you miss a couple of days. Just start again. Pretty soon, these actions will become habits - you only need to do something 21 times for a habit to be formed. The good habits you form now will last you a lifetime and will ensure that you stay healthy, fit and looking good.