Why You Need to Invest in Yourself First

Your greatest asset is yourself. This includes not just your skills or accomplishments, but also your physical body and your mental health.

Unfortunately, it’s often health and wellness that get pushed to the back burner when life gets busy. Staying at work late takes precedence over hitting the gym. Responsibilities to family and friends get in the way of fulfilling alone time. Stressful days become the norm rather than the exception.

While our families and our careers are undoubtedly important, they aren’t as important as protecting our physical and mental health. Remember, sacrificing yourself for too long yields only short-term rewards. Eventually, you’ll find that you’re mentally and physically strained, you’re unable to perform at work like you once could, and your social meter is tapped out.

Here are six ways to invest in your health and the advantages these steps can yield in your life.

1. Prioritize your oral health and see your dentist every 6 months.

Your oral health is directly connected to your physical health. Taking care of your smile not only reduces your risks of chronic health conditions like diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease, but it also enhances your self-confidence. In fact, your smile can even help you succeed in your personal and professional life.

Take care of your smile by brushing twice a day for two minutes and flossing at least once daily. Invest in tools like electric toothbrushes to make your care habits more effective. Most importantly, see your dentist every 6 months like clockwork.

2. Treat alone time as an urgent appointment you can’t reschedule.

Even the most outgoing extrovert also needs alone time or time to rest, reflect, and practice other forms of self-care. Self-care isn’t just a trend; it’s an extremely important facet of mental and physical health. Not taking care of yourself results in chronic stress, anxiety, and depression.

Treat your alone time with the same importance as a deadline at work or a can’t-miss appointment with your boss. Schedule time in your calendar and stick to these blocks of self-care time. Do what you enjoy and what relaxes you — and do it often.

3. Fuel your body with nutritious meals and revolving recipes.

Put low-quality gas and oil in your car, and it’s not going to run nearly as smoothly or efficiently as it should. The same applies to the machine that is your body. When life gets hectic, it’s really easy to skip meals, hit the vending machine, or rely on fast food to get by. This is fine in moderation, but when your overall nutrition is lacking, your body and your brain are going to feel it.

Every meal doesn’t need to be five-star quality or made with the healthiest ingredients possible, but most should be. Start by making just one meal a day a healthy one. And if you love cooking at home, be careful of getting stuck in a rut. Experimenting with different recipes keeps things fun and ensures you’re eating a variety of food products.

4. Drop your stubborn unhealthy habits, like smoking or drinking alcohol.

We all have certain habits that we resort to when we get stressed, upset, or even bored. Some people might chew their nails, while others might resort to having a drink. Take an inward look at your own lifestyle and see if you’ve fallen victim to unhealthy habits you use to cope with stress. It might be smoking, drinking a bit too often, binging on ice cream, or even picking at your skin.

Figure out the best form of breaking your unhealthy habit and begin to put the steps into practice. Breaking bad habits is incredibly rewarding and it could serve to improve your mental or physical health over time.

5. Find a form of exercise you love and make time to play.

Between childhood and adulthood, a very peculiar thing happens—we tend to stop playing, and become more sedentary. Exercise and play improve our physical health and also boost our mental health. The trick to doing both of these things is to find what type of exercise or workout you enjoy best. Consider signing up at a gym and trying out some different classes. Buddy up with a friend and try out their workout.

As far as play goes, get out to the park with your kids or your pet. Offer to play fetch with homeless dogs at a shelter. Look for groups that play disc golf or flag football. Or maybe go on a hike and indulge your inner child by flipping rocks to look for bugs or racing a friend.

6. Reach out to a mental health professional just as you would a doctor.

When a tooth hurts, we see a dentist. When a sore back isn’t going away, we see a doctor. But what if stress and anxiety linger or our mood is in the dumps and doesn’t seem to get any better? The symptoms may not be physical, but they deserve the attention of a health professional all the same.

If you find yourself struggling with your mental health, find a professional who you can talk to and who will help you to understand what you’re feeling. This alone can be a life-changing experience, both for your mental health and your physical health.

Put your health first by scheduling a dental checkup and cleaning with us today.

Not sure where to begin on your journey toward investing in yourself? Take the first step by booking your dental checkup and professional cleaning with us today. Just call our office or use this convenient online form.