The Self-Care Mindset : Rethinking How We Change and Grow, Harness Well-Being, and Reclaim Work-Life Quality

"This is a generous and profound book, a book worth sharing. It will stick with you for years to come." – Seth Godin, Author, The Practice The world has changed, our lives have changed, and in recent years, our work has changed. Despite the disruption, our relationship and understanding of self-care have remained the same as we still see it as something fluffy or a perfect list of habits that we "do" alone outside of work to recover. But what if self-care wasn't something we "do"? What if self-care is a mindset that allows us to achieve peak performance, engagement, and growth without burning out and sacrificing our health and joy? In The Self-Care Mindset, celebrated well-being and mindset expert Jeanette Bronée delivers an actionable and groundbreaking approach that challenges us to rethink self-care at work so we no longer have to choose between being healthy and being successful. With Jeanette's inclusive approach to self-care, you will receive the tools to protect and unlock our most important resource: our humanity. You'll learn how to better manage stress, break free from living in survival mode, and navigate FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) so you can harness change and grow by reclaiming agency and recovering what you care about. You'll also: Discover proven frameworks and useful tools, like "Power Pausing," the "C.A.R.E. Framework," and "AAA" Find ways to move beyond the outdated concept of "work-life balance" to one of "work-life quality" Learn to build an ecosystem of relationships with yourself, with others, and with work itself. Inclusion. Well-being. Care. This is the future of work. A future where well-being is the foundation for peak performance, engagement, and a culture where people belong and work better together by cultivating connection, communication, and collaboration. A can't-miss resource for busy professionals and business leaders everywhere, The Self-Care Mindset will find its way into the hands of managers, executives, board members, and anyone else who struggles to be busy and find fulfillment and happiness in their working lives at the same time. Cover 1 Title Page 9 Copyright Page 10 Contents 13 Acknowledgments 15 Introduction 17 We Don’t Have to Accept the Way Things Are 18 The Painful Wake-Up Call 20 Rethinking Self-Care 22 Think, Engage, Act 22 Part I Think—Rethinking Self-Care at Work 25 Chapter 1 What If We Have Self-Care All Wrong? 27 Are Our Beliefs About Self-Care Getting in the Way of Self-Care? 29 Rethinking Our Three Core Relationships 31 Demystifying Self-Care 34 Chapter 2 Power-Pausing 35 Pause, Listen, Ask 36 Your Mind on Pause 37 The Three Types of Power-Pausing 40 The First Step of Power-Pausing Is Learning to Breathe Again and Listen to Your Body 42 The Practice of Pausing on Purpose 43 Building Your Support System 44 Practicing the Pause 45 Chapter 3 Unstress to Get Unstuck 47 Are You Working and Living in Survival Mode? 48 Stress Is Like a Pothole 53 We Can’t Control What Happens, But We Can Control How We Respond 55 Chapter 4 The “FUD” Is Real 59 FUD and Burnout Go Hand in Hand 61 Moving from FUD to Agency Takes Curiosity 64 FUD Is an Opportunity for Change 65 Intention Fuels Attention 66 Our Three Basic Questions 68 Working with the Fear 71 Chapter 5 Rethinking Time 75 “Yes, but I Don’t Have Time” 78 It’s a Matter of Time 79 Work Needs to Be Inclusive of What We Care About 80 Rethinking Boundaries: Changing What “On Company Time” Means 81 Chapter 6 Rethinking Peak Performance 85 Working Harder or Working Better? 87 Performance Is About Being Happy 91 Purpose, Goals, and Rethinking What Matters 92 Peak Performance Comes from What We Care About 93 Peak Performance Equity 94 We Each Value and Care About Different Things 96 Chapter 7 Rethinking Habits 99 Knowing What We Need to Do Isn’t Enough 100 Disruption Is a Part of Life 101 To Change Our Habits, First We Need to Change the Way We Think 102 Reclaiming Agency over Our Habits 104 Know Your Triggers 105 Our Choices Are Based on Fear or Desire 107 Chapter 8 Self-Care Is a (Growth) Mindset 111 Turning Change into Opportunity 114 Turning Discomfort into Comfort 115 Change the Question, Change the Outcome 116 What Do I Need Right Now So That I Can...? 117 Grow, Grow, Grow 118 Part II Engage—The CARE Framework 121 Chapter 9 It’s Who We Are That Makes Us Great 123 Care in Action 124 Passion and Purpose 125 The CARE Framework 127 Chapter 10 Self-Communication 131 What’s the Inner Critic? 133 “I’m Not Good Enough!” 135 “I Am” Versus “I Feel” 136 To Listen or Not to Listen 137 Turn Your Inner Critic into Your Inner Coach 138 Growing Pains 140 Chapter 11 Self-Awareness 143 The Body on Stress 146 How to Get Body-Scanning to Work for You 147 A Morning Routine 149 Being “Self-Conscious” Versus Being “Conscious” 151 Emotional Self-Awareness 154 Emotions Are Good 157 Emotions at Work 157 Emotions as Information 158 Emotional Respect 160 Emotional Agency 161 Self-Awareness Is Also Self-Acceptance 162 Chapter 12 Self-Responsibility 167 “Yes, But. . .” 168 “Yes, And. . .” 173 Habit-Shifting 173 We Don’t Have to Fit into Our Habits; Our Habits Have to Fit Us 175 How to Make Your Habits Work for You 176 Foundational Self-Care Habits 176 Plot Out Your Day 180 What Do You Need So That You Can. . .? 182 When You Feel the FUD 185 Working with the Fud 186 Motivation for Change 188 Chapter 13 Self-Expression 191 Shame at Work 192 This Is Not a Fight; It’s Communication 194 Ask for It 194 What, How, and Why It Matters 196 The Power of Venting 197 CARE-Driven Venting 198 Being Authentic 200 Becoming You 203 Part III ACT— Reclaiming Agency 207 Chapter 14 ACT with CARE 209 AAA: Resilience from the Inside Out 211 Acceptance and Reclaiming Agency 213 The Power of Being Aware, Adaptable, and Agile 216 AAA with Care 217 AAA on Purpose 220 Chapter 15 “Yes, And...Is There More?” 223 “Yes, and...” Building on Your Strengths 225 “Yes, and...” AAA as a Communication Tool 226 A Healthy Culture Is Built on Healthy Conversations 232 Chapter 16 From Me to We 235 Culture Is an Ecosystem 235 Was Maslow Wrong? 238 We Need Each Other 240 Self-Care Works Better Together 241 The Future Is Human 243 Social-Emotional Awareness in Our Hybrid World 244 Connecting in a Virtual World 245 To Care Is Our Human Advantage 246 Chapter 17 The Future Is About Work-Life Quality 249 Belonging at Work 251 Work with Heart 253 Growth by Choice 254 Deconstruct to Build Better 256 “What Do You Need So You Can Cultivate Work-Life Quality? 257 Falling in Love with You 260 Chapter 18 A Culture of CARE® 263 Care Reaches All the Way to Your Customer 264 Moments of Presence 265 Grief at Work 266 Care Matters 269 What Will You Choose? 270 Care Is What Motivates Us, Not Fear 271 Self-Care Is a Conversation; Let’s Keep it Going 273 Care Makes Us Stronger Together 274 About The Author 277 Index 279 EULA 288 "Inclusion. Wellbeing. Care. This is the future of work. The new generation no longer wants to accept that work hurts and that to succeed, we must sacrifice our well-being and health. Throw in the fact that our three core relationships - "self," "others," and "work," are overlapping like never before, and to create the future of work we all want to see, we must rethink self-care in the workplace and stop seeing it as something we do on our own time, but rather a mindset that provides us with the fuel and tools to change and grow. The Self-Care Mindset is an extension of Jeanette's most valuable teachings; rooted in solving the burnout crisis and navigating change and uncertainty through a more inclusive and holistic approach to self-care where we protect and harness our most important resource: our humanity. Once presented with the many paradoxes surrounding self-care, readers will be walked through three sections: "Think," "Engage," and "Act." In each section, they will be introduced and given proven tools and frameworks Jeanette has designed to help navigate FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) including, the "Power Pause," the "C.A.R.E. Framework," and "AAA." Focusing on "work-life balance" is outdated and not relevant to our new world. Now is the time we focus our efforts on "work-life quality" and this starts with recognizing that work is an ecosystem of relationships, and it starts with the one we have with ourselves. Accessing what it means to be human and equipping ourselves with the tools to reclaim agency in our lives and our work - which is the true definition of self-care"-- Provided by publisher