It’s All Part Of It

The other day I was really enjoying the process of doing my makeup but also feeling like I should really get to work on my burgeoning to-do list.

I mean, applying makeup isn’t exactly a revenue-generating activity for me.

But then I stopped myself and thought:

Enjoying the process of adorning myself is self care.

Feeling beautiful all day because I took some extra time on my makeup this morning is a huge energetic boost. (Not that I have to have makeup on to feel beautiful. Sometimes I don’t wear makeup and I feel totally beautiful. But that day the makeup routine felt important, so I went with it.)

When my energy is boosted and I feel confident and alive, I’m more creative. I’m more present. My time and energy don’t get drained by self-doubt as much. I’m focused. I get more done.

I realized that on this particular day, my makeup application was actually part of generating revenue and growing our business because the process of doing it plus the results of doing it were enhancing my ability to do my best work.

Anything can be part of anything if you decide it is. And when you decide it is, it is.

Feeling self-indulgent for taking a bath in the afternoon? Reframe: you need down time for peak creativity. Hence, bath = productive.

Feeling like you shouldn’t go to the 90-minute yoga class and should cut your practice short to 45 minutes, even though the 90-minute version leaves you in total bliss? Reframe: the extra 45 minutes spent honoring your body and the subsequent bliss will make you less cranky. Or perhaps not cranky at all. You won’t yell at your kids or nit-pick your husband. And you won’t need to spend 60 minutes before bedtime fighting with him because you were kind in the first place. Net time gain from 45 minutes of yoga = 15 minutes extra to do what you want!

There are not walls in your life between your health, your marriage, your business, your family, your spirituality, and your finances. They are all the same thing.

What enhances one area of your life enhances all areas of your life. 

So quit feeling guilty for enjoying yourself. It’s all part of it. Everything. It all benefits it all.

So soak it up, sister. It’s all your life and it deserves savoring.

OVER TO YOU:

What do you feel guilty about indulging in sometimes? How could you reframe that enjoyment and see it as part of the enhancement of the whole? Tell me in the comments!

9 comments

  • Erin
    August 10, 2017 AT 5:58AM

    “There are not …walls between your health, your life, your business, your spirituality….”
    So very true! That struck a chord with me as I am currently working to arrange my schedule in a way that best suits being with my children and giving them my best.
    What a great reminder on the importance of self care.

    Reply
  • Kristine
    August 16, 2017 AT 11:03AM

    Kate, thank you for this. I have been waking up lately feeling pretty low and weighed down with so much to do in my life and business. When I read this I realized that I have been putting all the parts of my life, family, business, home, friends, exercise in boxes (mostly filled with obligation) and none of it felt good to me anymore. The idea that everything is related gives me so much more permission to enjoy each thing I am doing, to experience my life as a whole work of art versus parts. I want to print this out somehow and put it up to read it every day! Thanks again for your work!!

    Reply
    • Kate Northrup
      August 16, 2017 AT 11:30PM

      Oh yes! I’m so glad this was helpful to you! Yes. Print it and share. We all need to be reminded all the time!

      Reply
  • Dana
    August 16, 2017 AT 11:35AM

    Woooow…. that message was so powerful…. I feel quilty when I sleep more than 8 hours/night, when I fit in my daily schedule a 45min work out, and like you mentioned, when I spend 15 min in the mirror doing my make up in the morning. This makes me sad, writing this down makes me realize I don’t allow myself to indulge in these activities without guilt, and then if I spend the time doing them I feel like they drain my energy instead of boosting it, BUT it’s probably the guilt that makes me feel powerless and my negative talk. Now that I wrote these down I will double check where I can make some ajustments in my schedule. I can cut my social media presence and spend online an hour less per day, and then I would be able to fit a so much needed work out and a makeup routine with si much more ease. Thank you Kate! This was a blessing to me. I would be curios to read your thought.

    Reply
    • Kate Northrup
      August 16, 2017 AT 11:29PM

      Oh I’m SO glad this was illuminating for you. I love the notion that the things are draining not because of doing them, but because of the guilt. Such good awareness!

      Reply
  • Paula
    August 16, 2017 AT 1:17PM

    Kate:
    I’ve recently started putting makeup on daily, even Sundays where I might just be lounging. I’m always reminded that I’m “doing it for me” which was my daughter’s response to someone questioning her as to why she was “so dressed-up.”
    When I take the time to look, really look at myself, check my mood, turn my inner conversation around as I do so, the day goes infinitely better.
    I sell my Self more powerfully, tend to take less “crap,” am more clear and professional.
    There’s something truly gorgeous about honoring our femininity, sexuality, and womanhood.
    Thanks for the reminder as to the “why.”
    Always in gratitude,
    Paula

    Reply
  • Deb
    August 22, 2017 AT 10:27AM

    I am very guilty of letting these types of things go. I am a work in process…

    Reply

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