It's not enough for children to simply see a parent taking time for themselves. Explaining the reasoning—like the importance of friendships and recharging—models that self-care is an essential, beneficial part of a healthy life, a lesson many adults were never taught.
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Traditional self-care is often seen as selfish. A more powerful approach is to expand the definition of "self" to include family, community, and the world. Caring for yourself enables you to care for the collective. This reframes inner work as a foundational step toward building the world you want to see.
In a collaborative setting like a mastermind, individual energy management directly impacts the group's collective outcome. Actions like getting enough sleep, avoiding alcohol, and staying off your phone are not just for personal benefit; they are a way to honor everyone's time by showing up fully present.
For passionate founders, work-life balance isn't about stepping away from the mission; it's about sustaining the ability to achieve it. If you burn out, the mission fails. Taking care of yourself is a strategic imperative that enables you to better serve your team and community.
When you have the freedom to take a lunch break, ask for help, or log off on time, you have a responsibility to do it. By resting, you normalize these behaviors for other women and team members who may not feel they have the same permission. Failing to rest perpetuates a culture of overwork, whereas modeling it creates a subtle but powerful cultural shift.
Modern work demands an ability to manage your own psychology, stress, and energy. No one will force you to take breaks. Proactively managing yourself prevents burnout and unlocks the mental space needed for creative, high-impact work.
Lyft's John Zimmer reflects that during intense growth periods, taking time for sleep and exercise felt selfish. He later learned that failing to prioritize his well-being actively hindered his ability to effectively lead and serve his team, customers, and investors.
Instead of asking, "Have I worked enough to deserve rest?", ask, "Have I rested enough to do my best work?" This shift reframes rest from a reward you must earn into a necessary input for quality, compassion, and higher-level thinking. When in a fight-or-flight state, you lack access to the brain regions required for your most meaningful work.
To develop a child's patience and ability to manage expectations, a parent can strategically delay fulfilling their requests. This real-world version of the famous "marshmallow test" trains the skill of delayed gratification, which is linked to long-term success and self-control.
The immense stress of caregiving has dire health consequences. Statistics show caregivers die at a significantly higher rate than their non-caregiving peers, with 30% passing away before the person they care for. This reframes self-care not as a luxury, but as an urgent, non-negotiable act of survival.
Parents don't need to formally teach kids about money. Children form powerful, lasting mental models by observing their parents' daily actions—every offhand comment about affordability, every choice of vacation, and every remark about neighbors. They will either mimic this behavior or, if they see it as flawed, aggressively rebel against it.
