Radical self-care as ethical responsibility

In today’s musings on marketing and magic I am looking at a deeper sense of self-care. We are all familiar with the concept of self-care in support of feeling more energetic and full of vitality.  And this can often be an after-thought when we run a business and only have so many hours in the day.

Redefining our sense of radical self-care

Especially for those of us who are service providers, whether as a therapist, a coach, a healer or something else, we often feel an obligation towards others and so our attention is “out there” with our clients. I believe that we can harness this sense of obligation and make it work FOR us, redefining that sense of responsibility that we often have towards our clients and honor our intention of service towards others by attending “in here”, within ourselves, so that we can be our best when we show up for our work.

The German psychotherapist and coach Gunther Schmidt talks about the ethical responsibility of self-care that we as coaches, healers, and other conscious service providers have – to keep ourselves as clear as possible in order for us to truly be present with our clients and to deliver our best services, our best work.

Of course, what that looks like varies from person to person. Do you know what that looks like for you? The first step might just be to notice: as you are delivering your services “am I at my best right now?” and “how do I need to prepare myself better in the future so I can be fully present and available to my clients?”

What is your radical self-care practice?