24. Gratitude, Goals, and Growth: Essential Self-Care Practices for Nurses

In this episode of The Nurse’s Breakroom with Jenny Lytle, RN, we dive into the transformative power of setting intentions and making space for self-care. As nurses, it’s easy to get caught in the whirlwind of busy schedules and caregiving, leaving little time to reflect on what truly matters. Jenny shares simple, actionable tips to break free from autopilot, incorporate moments of gratitude, and take steps toward personal growth.

Discover how to:

• Use intention-setting to combat nurse burnout and regain balance.
• Incorporate small but impactful self-care practices into your daily routine.
• Reflect on your goals and make meaningful progress toward them.

Whether you’re feeling overwhelmed, stuck in a rut, or simply ready for a fresh perspective, this episode will inspire you to prioritize your well-being and reclaim your time.

Take the first step toward a healthier, more intentional life today!

If you're feeling overwhelmed, burned out, or like there’s never enough time, I’ve got something just for you! Head to https://selfcareisntselfish.com to grab your FREE copy of my book, Self-Care Isn’t Selfish: The Compassionate Nurse’s Step-by-Step Guide to Personalized Stress Relief. It’s packed with simple, effective strategies to help you prioritize your needs—without guilt—so you can feel energized, focused, and ready to take on the day. Go to https://selfcareisntselfish.com 

Looking for connection with people who get the stress and self-care struggles of nurses and caregivers? Check out https://thenursesbreakroom.com

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennylytlern/

More ways to connect here: https://linktr.ee/jennylytle

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:29

Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Nurse's Breakroom with Jenny Lytle RN. Today we are going to focus on intention and the question is how are you fearlessly pursuing your dreams? I know that for me for many years and, if I'm honest, still sometimes I get very caught up in the day-to-day just busyness of regular life and it can seem like things are kind of on autopilot life and it can seem like things are kind of on autopilot and then when I look back I realized that weeks or months or seasons have passed without me really taking a lot of time to focus on. What do I want? What do I want this time to look like? What do I want to accomplish and it doesn't have to be like a to do list kind of accomplish, but do I want to spend more time with my family? Do I want to focus more on my health? It's getting clear on what do you really want out of life and then are you doing things that are going to get you there.

Speaker 1: 1:36

One thing that I like to do to make sure that I'm on my list of priorities is color code, my calendar. So for regular appointments and things like that, I use a Google Calendar because it just works well for me and for us, because I'm able to share that with my family, even though they don't get it a lot, but they could if they chose to. And I put things that I consider to be self-care in yellow, because yellow is sunshine and I know that when I am taking care of myself then I show up better for other people. So I encourage you to take a look at your calendar, and if you're not somebody who keeps track of things on a calendar and you're somebody who just you know more goes through the days, then that's okay too. But look back at, even if you're not somebody who keeps track of things on a calendar and you're somebody who just you know more goes through the days, then that's okay too.

Speaker 1: 2:22

But look back at, even if you're just mentally thinking about it kind of where you have fit in with that and if that feels like too much, then for the next week or so, think about the things that you're doing and how many of those things are moving you in the direction that you want to go and how many of them are just the autopilot, day in, day out things that we have to do. And I get your schedule might be really busy and you might be thinking you know what, I don't have time for all of this stuff. All I have time to do are these must do things. But I challenge that because I believe that most of us and you may be the exception, but most of us have time for social media or TV or just mindlessly scrolling on our phone and looking at things. And what if you just set aside maybe 10 minutes to think about at the beginning of your week, what do you want your week to look like? How can you put in these little pockets of time, these little things that can help to get you toward where you're wanting to go? Or, at the end of your week, reflect on how that worked out for you and what kind of adjustments you need to make?

Speaker 1: 3:41

And finding these little bits of time it may be just a mindset thing where you're able to stop and consider what I want the upcoming week to look like, how do I want it to feel? So kind of setting an intention for the week, aside from making it through. What do you want it to look like? What are the things that you want to add in or maybe subtract? Maybe you want to have a healthier lifestyle. So what are a couple of things that you can do to set yourself up for success? Again, it doesn't have to be anything complicated. You're not talking about changing your entire routine just a couple of little things that that maybe even seem like you know what. That's too little to even make a difference. Those are the perfect kind of things to add in. So maybe you're feeling like you're kind of in a slump. You know the the weather here in the US is changing and our days are getting shorter, and that can really affect some people. And last year, for the first time, I really felt that I always have a little bit, but last year it was. It was it was kind of dark, not just outside, but it got kind of dark for me as well not just outside, but it got kind of dark for me as well. And so maybe you know, maybe that's something that you want to be kind of proactive about and that's something that I'm working on this year as well. So something simple but very effective is focus on three things that you're grateful for each day and if you're looking forward a bigger goal, you know what are you doing to get you toward that goal.

Speaker 1: 5:22

Now, recently I went to New York last week actually, and I went for a conference on healthcare burnout and that was outside of my comfort zone because I was going to a place where, yes, some of the people were nurses and other healthcare professionals, but the majority of the speakers and the attendees were physicians of one type or another. And it would have been very easy to get in my head and think you know what? I really don't know, that I belong here and and occasionally I did get in my head like that. But what I found is that there were a lot of similarities in their stories and my own story and the stories of a lot of the clients that I've worked with the burnout, the frustration, the lack of self care, the difficulty in making their own needs a priority, because they felt called to their work or they felt a sense of guilt and obligation. And I realized when I looked at the conference that this week about how are you fearlessly pursuing your dreams?

Speaker 1: 6:24

My dream is to expand my reach and to be able to connect with nurses and other healthcare workers and really just those that know they are meant to be serving others, helping in some way, but they find that their own mental health, their own vibrancy, their own needs. It feels like their own needs are competing with their desire to connect with others. And because it's my goal, because it's my passion and because I believe it's what God is calling me to do, I knew that I needed to step it up a bit, and I've recently written my book, and now I've decided to be more active locally and I've rejoined my chamber of commerce here and I'm doing things that are definitely outside of my comfort zone, and in doing that, I'm finding that the need for what I want to do on a bigger scale is being reconfirmed. And so I believe that when we step out in faith and when we step out in fear believe that when we step out in faith and when we step out in fear, basically just when we step that things will align for us. When we just take that first step, then we'll see the next step.

Speaker 1: 7:38

And that's what I encourage you to do is just take a few minutes to figure out, to really reflect on what do you want, what do you want your life to look like and, if that's too daunting, what do you want your week to look like, or your day to look like, and feel like, and then go from there, and next week we're going to be talking about needs and the things that are missing from your life body, mind and spirit. Until next time, take a little time for yourself and remember self care isn't selfish. It's essential if we want to continue to care for others and live our best lives.