Hello, hello, hello. Welcome to my wellness to success podcast. My name is Dr. Martine Kanal and I am a self care strategist and I have been a nurse for over 27 years. This is my expert opinion. It is no way, shape, or form any medical advice. So if you feel the need, To get medical help, please, please, please reach out to your medical professional. In today's podcast, I'm going to talk about self care and living the life you have imagined. Now, we live in a busy world. We are all, all busy. Our days are filled with to do lists, obligations, and of course we have a lot of distractions. So it is very It's very easy to put self care on the sideburner, but I'm here to put it out to the forefront and remind you that you have to take care of yourself and that will help you in the pursuit of your life. The way that you have dreamed of. So, to begin, I want to remind you that self care is not a luxury, it's a necessity. So, just like a house, you have got to have a strong foundation. You have got to make sure that you put in place the steps necessary for you to take care of yourself so that you can nourish your mind, your body, and your soul. All that so that you can maintain a healthy balance in your life. Now, with the strong foundation of self care, you have got to make time for all the self care practices that feels right to you that resonates with you. For example, you can go for a walk, you can do meditation, you can go take a healthy cooking class, you can journal. So all these practices will help to develop your strength. Develop your confidence. It will help ground you and give you the mental and emotional clarity that you need to pursue the dreams that you have for yourself. Now, how do you clarify your dreams? Well, you have got to spend some time and reflect on these dreams. It has to show your passions, your values. And your goals. Once you have these dreams, you have to write them down. Okay? And you have to visualize it. I talk about visualization in, in one of my podcasts. So go back to that if you need more clarity on that. But you have to visualize your dreams and you have to be very specific. It's like as if you are seeing it, smelling it, hearing it. Touching it, it has to vividly appear in front of you and you have to feel them. So clarity of purpose is very essential for setting the steps, the meaningful objective and working toward those dreams. You also have to set realistic goals. It's good to have a big dream, but you have got to be realistic in terms of how you're going to achieve these dreams and achieve these goals. So the way that you do that, you would actually break down these dreams into small steps that you can do on a short term basis. So after you do it in the short term and it accumulates into the long term and then eventually you'll be able to achieve your dreams. So this will make you see that these dreams are more attainable and it will allow you to keep track of your progress, of what you're doing to reach this dream. And it will also allow you to be motivated along the way because then you will not feel that you're not progressing. Now, of course. You have got to prioritize your health. Without health, there's no wealth and there will be no dreams. So self care extends to your physical, mental, and social well being. So a regular exercise, a healthy diet, and sleep. Adequate amount of sleep are crucial components. To a healthy lifestyle, you will be feeling strong, energized, you'll have stamina, the confidence, the power, the resilience to tackle any challenge that life throws at you, and that will help you also to reach your goals now being. in a community of like minded people will help you to achieve your goals. Nurturing your relationship that are strong and supportive is vital for your well being and your personal growth. Now making time for your loved ones and your friends and surrounding yourself with all the people who encourage you and inspire you. It's very important for you reaching your goals, for you reaching your dreams. Now, healthy relationships can provide that emotional support and motivation necessary to pursue your dreams. I set myself around people that are positive, that are encouraging me to achieve my dreams. I remember for me, when I wanted to start the podcast, I surrounded myself that are doing podcasts. When we're together. We kind of support each other and talk about what the next level is. So that motivates me to keep going toward my goal of having a podcast. So surrounding yourself with people that are going to push you to the next level is very important. And I'm going to keep surrounding myself with these people because I want to reach a higher level. Who knows how high I'm going to reach, but by going step by step and making sure that I'm taking care of myself and moving to the next level, it's how we're going to reach my goals. And while I'm doing that, I'm going to embrace learning. I'm going to learn how to be a better podcaster. So in order for you to reach your dreams, your, your goals, Your aspirations, you have got to keep on learning. You have to continuously grow and acquire new skills. You have to seek knowledge. And of course you have to challenge yourself. You cannot stay at the level that you're at. Remember that change is always happening. You have to keep abreast with change. Because change is the only constant in life. You have got to keep growing. Lifelong learning is a must. You have to self develop yourself because you have to enhance your capabilities so that you can stay challenged as you can have a dynamic and exciting life. I love to travel because I get to learn about new cultures, new ways that they take care of themselves. So I'm going to introduce you to the new methods, new techniques, new practices. And if it's something that aligns with what I believe in, that I can introduce that, I can integrate that in my life so that I can feel better so that I can be more physically, mentally, physically fit. And socially fit, then you have to practice gratitude. Gratitude has to be done, has to be cultivated on a daily basis, because you will get to appreciate what life gives you. And then you will strive to keep going, to achieve your dreams. You have got to take. Each day to reflect on things that are true are grateful for no matter how small it is Because then you will keep receiving because this Practicing gratitude will shift your perspective and keep you focused on the positive aspect So that you will keep on going. And of course, of course, dreams will remain dreams until you take action. You have got to take action to reach your dreams. You have got to get out of your comfort zone to pursue your goals. Any challenges that you have to go through, any setbacks are natural part of life. of life. And this is how you learn. Those are valuable learning experiences. So you have to keep on pushing forward. You have to remain resilient and then you can adjust the path of your life as needed to achieve your dreams. So self care is again necessary. It's not a luxury. You have got to include self care to provide. Strength, clarity and motivation to pursue your dreams. You have got to have purpose and determination. You have got to be consistent and remember this is not a linear. It's going to go up and down and but by prioritizing self care, you will be ready, you'll be strong, you're going to take action and you can turn your dreams into reality. So embrace self care. As a daily practice and watch how your life transform into the vision that you have imagined. I have this quote that I repeat myself every day. Live the life you have imagined. Remember, it's all about us living a passionate, productive, and meaningful life. So until next time, dream big, practice self care, and see yourself living the life you have always imagined. Join our self care empowerment circle. for tips and strategies to how to incorporate self care into our lives. It is selfcare empowerment circle. com. We are a community that support each other so that we can live our best life. As I always say, remember, it's all about us living our best life. So until next time, you guys take care.