START YOUR SELF CARE JOURNEY HERE!
My philosophy
You can be told all day long, “self care is important!” But is it possible even when you’re insanely hyper-busy?
(Short answer : yes, I wholeheartedly believe so! I’ll show you how.)
welcome aboard
self care starts here.
If you’ve tried time and time again to get serious about self care only for it to fall on the back burner, you won’t want to skip this page. This is for you!
Here at Ambitiously Alexa, we’re on a mission to make self care simplified. I know firsthand how easy it is to prioritize work over self care, and I’d be lying if I said I haven’t fallen into phases of doing so from time to time.
Chances are you can relate! Whether you have no clue where to begin with practicing self care, or if you’ve tried but could never make it a routine, I’m your gal.
DOES THIS SOUND LIKE YOU? if so, this blog is for you.
- You feel selfish taking care of yourself and guilty when you put your needs first
- You feel like you haven’t “earned” self care
- You don’t have the time to focus on yourself
- You think self care is super time-consuming, involved, and just adds another item to your to-do list
If you nodded along while reading those, I completely understand. I used to agree with ALL of these things. But then I realized a few things…
- You can’t pour from an empty cup. Fulfilling your needs first will put you in the best possible position to then help others.
- Why do I need to “earn” self care? What does it mean to “earn” it anyway? Who is setting the standards for whether or not I’m worthy of taking care of myself? We all have the right to nurture our physical and mental health.
- Nope, I might not have a spare hour to devote to self care each day. But I don’t need to. Doing a 5 minute guided meditation before I start my work day is self care. Recognizing there’s something I can say “no” to today to lighten my load is self care. It comes in many forms!
- We have to stop viewing self care as just another to-do list item adding to our mountain of obligations. You can’t expect yourself to perform at your best when your engine is running on empty. Start viewing self care as a non-negotiable and you’ll actually see increased productivity to tackle that lengthy to-do list!
With this shift in your mindset, you’ll soon find that there are totally practical, realistic ways to fit self care into your busy life. I’ve found that the best bang for your buck when it comes to effective self care on a limited watch is journaling!
Journaling is the main focus of self care that this blog zones in on. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with all the different self care options, so I’ve made it simple for you. Keep reading to learn more!
Step One: Get to Know Me
hey, i’m Alexa!
my little origin story
I started this blog in December 2020, not long after graduating college. I got my B.A in Psychology, but realized I wanted to help people in a more unique, unconventional way. In came the blog!
Not only do I have an educational background in mental health, but I also have personal experience with my own mental health struggles. This helped me develop a deep understanding of self care and how essential it is for mental health maintenance.
My goal is to provide my audience with the tools, guidance, and resources to take charge of their mental health. Knowing how to self-support is a must. I’ll help you master this inside and out!
If you’re curious for more, here’s my full About Me page.
Step Two: Pick a Lane. Make It Easy. Start with Journaling.
So, like I said, it is SO easy to get overwhelmed with exactly what you should do for self care. Don’t end up in “analysis paralysis” and end up missing out on self care altogether because you don’t know what to choose!
If you’re stuck, I’ll make it easy for you. I suggest you start with journaling.
Why?
Because journaling is one of the most effective forms of self care and it can be done in a pretty short amount of time.
Journaling can help you…
- Manage anxiety and racing thoughts
- Cope with depression
- Prioritize fears and work through problems in your life
- Gain self-awareness and get to know your triggers
- Help you identify negative thought patterns and re-route them toward healthy thought patterns
Journaling is where you truly get to do the work. It’s where you can release all the pent-up thoughts and stress in a place that’s for your eyes only.
If you want to start journaling for your mental health, start with these journal prompts:
- For depression: 45 Insightful Journal Prompts for Depression Relief
- For healing from trauma: Trauma Healing Journal Prompts: 40 Prompts to Process Your Past
- For anxiety: Journal Prompts for Anxiety: 42 Prompts When You’re Overwhelmed
- For learning to set boundaries: 25 Journal Prompts for Boundaries You Might Need to Set
If you want to start journaling for deeper self discovery, start with these journal prompts:
- 35 Future Self Journal Prompts for Becoming Your Best Self
- 101 Self Reflection Questions You Need to Be Asking Yourself
- 60 Journal Prompts to Find Your Purpose When Stuck
- 80 Insightful Inner Child Journal Prompts
Step Three: Squash That Harsh Inner Critic
We all have an inner critic that makes us second-guess and self-doubt ourselves from time to time (or, maybe a lot of the time). Luckily, there’s something you can do about it that actually works!
Practicing positive affirmations.
Did I make that sound too easy? Well, hear me out, because I’m dead serious.
When you practice positive affirmations regularly (that is; positive statements that promote positive self-talk, like “I am doing a good job.”) you actually re-train your brain to choose positive self-talk over negative. Yes, there really are studies that show this to be the case. Keep it up for long enough and this positive self-talk will become second nature.
If you want to gain a positive mindset and fix your negative self-talk, try these affirmations:
Step Four: Try Other Self Care Activities to See What You Like
I highly suggest starting with journaling and positive affirmations first, just so you don’t overwhelm yourself. But if you’re ready for more and want to explore all your options, I’ve got you covered!
Try these self care activities if you’re hungry for more ideas!
- Ultimate List of Self Care Hobbies: 32 Ideas You’ve Got to Try
- Self Care for Empaths: 13 Activities to Protect Your Energy
- Your Inner Teenager Needs Healing Too: 16 Proven Exercises To Do So
- 5 Minute Self Care: 90 Quick and Wildly Helpful Ideas
- Self Care for Introverts: 16 Ways to Recharge Your Social Battery
Step Five: Intimidated by the Blank Page? Get Step-by-Step Journaling Help
How discouraging is it to have a blank page staring back at you while you have no freaking clue what to write about?! That sucks. Journal prompts can certainly help, but guided journals that are jam-packed with prompts as well as mental exercises make journaling SO. MUCH. EASIER.
Seriously, once I started trying guided journals myself, it was an absolute game changer. It actually got me to STICK TO MY JOURNALING HABIT once and for all!!
Guided journals involve in-depth work toward a certain goal, like improving your mental health, getting better at goal planning, or healing your inner child. Journal prompts just scratch the surface, while a fully organized guided journal will cover ALL the bases.
I strongly recommend giving guided journals a try. I offer a few different ones! Click below to learn more about each journal and add them to your self care toolbox.
Step Six: Join the Ambitious Self Care Community
I’ve got an email community where you can join 4,000+ other busy ambitious women ready to get serious about self care. You’ll get exclusive journaling tips, positive affirmations, and self care guidance sent straight to your inbox so you can carve balance back into your busy life! (Don’t worry, I hate spam! You won’t get any. You can expect to hear from me about once a month, so nothing excessive!)
Best part of all…you’ll get a free self care check in sheet sent straight to your inbox upon signing up! That’ll be sure to get you in the groove of regular self care.
BONUS: Exclusive Discounts on More Self Care Tools
One last thing: to help you get the most out of your self care practice, I’m sharing some of the BEST discounts you can find on the internet! Let me send you on your way with more affordable access to these self care resources:
- Online Therapy – I didn’t see the results I wanted with my emotional regulation and anxiety until I started seeing a therapist each week. Therapy can be pricey, I know, but it pays for itself ten times over, believe me. There’s only so much you can do on your own and you really do need the help of a professional to see serious change. To lighten the cost, you can get 20% off your first month at Online Therapy at my link here.
- Headspace Meditation – there are free guided meditations on Youtube, but I find that I ran out of good ones to choose from pretty quickly. They also aren’t always specific enough to match what I’m looking for. You won’t have this problem with Headspace. They have a HUGE library of all kinds of guided meditations, from sleep, to focus, to anxiety, and so much more. I always recommend Headspace for meditation newbies especially. It is so so SO worth it! You can get 14 days of Headspace free with my link here.
And that’s what Ambitiously Alexa is all about! If you made it this far, you’re the coolest. I thank you so much for your support and interest in what this blog has to offer. I sincerely hope you can walk away with better self care habits, deeper self-awareness, and a happier mindset after browsing through my site.
All the best,
