A Self-Care Pledge for the New Year
what I've been contemplating lately
As we approach 2025, I know that many of us are starting to get caught up in the hefty goals we may have for ourselves. While I’m generally not a personal fan of making resolutions I thought I’d offer some guidance (and a pledge!) for those of you hoping to have self-care take up more space in your life in the new year.
I’ve had my own personal journey with self-care and learning to do what is best for me. While I’m not perfect at it, and communicating my needs is always a work in progress, there are some key lessons I’ve learned that I’d also like to pass on to you! These ideas are part of what has driven my desire to write Self-Care for Black Men and Meditations for Black Men as I think Black men, in particular, are often left out of these conversations.
The tips below are universal and I hope that you’ll take the self-care pledge at the bottom as a promise to yourself.
You deserve it.
Here are few principles to embrace for a better self-care ethic:
Learn to center yourself. No this doesn’t mean that you get to have everything you want whenever you want it. More so, centering yourself is about having a care ethic which prioritizes routine self-reflection. When you get present with what you think and feel you are much more likely to act in your own best interest.
Share and build intimacy. Opening up and being vulnerable about our thoughts and needs is not easy. Many of us struggle with advocating for ourselves for the sake of managing other’s feelings and avoiding any potential conflict. But remember that when you avoid sharing the truest version of yourself you also limit connection and intimacy. Sharing is caring enough to let yourself be known and seen.
Make self-care routine. Let’s face it, we are all busier and more exhausted than we would like. This doesn’t mean that we get to abandon taking care of ourselves and tending to our needs. Instead of making your focus on self-care grandiose and consumption driven, try to focus on the small everyday ways of taking care of your physical and mental health and making them routine.
Have a Plan B. As a follow- up to the need for making self-care routine, it’s also good have a backup plan. If Plan A is how we show up when we’re feeling energized or at baseline, then Plan B should be what you’ll do when you’re struggling and need lower lift, high return on investment strategies to improve your mood and well-being.
Get support when you need it. And ultimately, self-care is also about realizing the bits that you can’t do on your own. Whether it means leaning on friends much harder or getting support from a mental health professional (like a therapist), remember that sometimes it’s necessary to get support from others. Sometimes even the smallest of outside gestures can make an incredible difference to your mental health.
I hope these suggestions offer you a guide to approach 2025 with a renewed self-care ethic. And if you feel so compelled, please repost and share this post, or the self-care pledge below, to hold yourself accountable to your plans and inspire others to enter 2025 with a renewed sense of self-care and compassion.
Here is your self-care pledge:
Image reads:
I pledge to honor myself and my needs in 2025.
I make a committment to spend time in self-reflection to ensure that I better understand my thoughts, feelings, and needs.
I promise to myself I will work to communicate with others around my needs and challenge any internal critical thoughts because my experience and my feelings are important.
I promise to take my needs and feelings seriously irrespective of what others may think. I will devote routine time and energy to practicing self-care the best I can.
A special note about Meditations for Black Men: If you enjoyed listening to the book, please rate and/or review the audiobook wherever you listen. THANK YOU!