Have you ever heard the phrase my sister’s keeper? That simple phrase is the inspiration for this Self Care Checklist for Friends! This is a self-care idea specifically for friends. If you haven’t noticed yet, friendship is a topic I love to explore. In previous articles, we’ve discussed the benefits of relieving stress, but today we are going to discuss the importance of self-care.
Now we are going to get a little personal in this post, but just for a second.
My mother passed away in 2014 from breast cancer. We had no family history of breast cancer. My mother was one of those women that put everyone before herself. She was a professional woman, a mother, a sister, a caretaker, the family fixer, and the list goes on and on. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer, she had skipped her mammograms for a couple of years. Again we had no family history. She didn’t think it was a big deal. She had so much on her plate, it was just another thing to do.
I can’t help but wonder if we had caught it earlier…
As women, we tend to put everyone before ourselves. It’s the reason flight attendants remind us to put the oxygen mask on ourselves first, then our children. It’s just not our natural instinct to take care of ourselves first.
I wish my mom had a friendship pact like the one I’ve created. It’s why I try to remind my friends to go get their mammograms every October. Thus this idea became the inspiration for the Self Care Checklist for Friends. This checklist encourages friends to check in with each other to make sure they are taking good care of themselves. We can’t be responsible for our friends’ actions, but I think we can remind each other to practice self-care.
So What is Self Care, Anyway?
As women, we should make an effort every day to take care of ourselves in some form or fashion! It should be a daily occurrence. Self-care is not a selfish act or practice. In fact, according to an excellent article on EverydayHealth.com, “Self-care means taking care of yourself so that you can be healthy, you can be well, you can do your job, you can help and care for others, and you can do all the things you need to and want to accomplish in a day.” Your version of self-care can be whatever you want it to me. There’s no magic formula to self-care, we all need to evaluate our health and lifestyle and determine what we need more of in our daily lives.
Let’s promise right now, here today that we will CREATE a little time each day to do something that will improve our life. And the best part is that we don’t have to do it alone. You can phone a friend to do it with you. Find a like-minded friend and make this self-care challenge a team effort.
Self Care Checklist for Friends
Here’s my Self Care Checklist for Friends. The goal of this checklist is to encourage each other! There are 10 items on my checklist, but feel free to create your own. Try to do one task each month. There aren’t 12 items on the list because life happens, and I don’t want you or me to be stressed out trying to complete this challenge. That would defeat the purpose. There’s built-in flexibility. So if one month the stuff hits the fan, spend that month supporting your friends. That’s what friendship is all about. And tackle a new task the next month. The items on the checklist are intended to promote mental health, comradery, fitness, and happiness. The ultimate goal is to improve your physical and mental well-being.
Here are my 10 recommended tasks:
- Cook a Healthy Meal
- Attend a Happy Hour
- Get a Mammogram
- Attend a Workout Class
- Get a Manicure or Pedicure
- Read a Personal Development Book
- Go to the Beach or on a Nature Hike
- Volunteer for a Cause Important to You
- Attend a Musical Concert or a Dramatic Play
- Complete Your Annual Primary Care Physical Exam
These are the tasks I came up with. What would you add to your personal Friendship Self Care Checklist? Give us all some ideas in the comment section.
FREE Printable
If you like my list of tasks, I created a printable PDF of the self-care checklist for friends. Click here to for a PDF of the checklist!
Just print this PDF and post it somewhere you will see it often as a reminder! Schedule a reoccurring call or Zoom session with your friends specifically to discuss the Friendship Self Care Checklist. Discuss and plan your activities. Talk about your efforts to complete the checklist.
Of course, you can always complete this challenge alone, but I’d like to encourage you to not leave the friendship part out of the challenge. Celebrate the completion of each task and your friendship!
If your friend group completes this challenge, please let me know I’d love to hear all about it. Even if you only manage to complete one task on this list celebrate and enjoy it! It might have been the one thing your girl squad needed the most.
