How is self-care connected to high performance?
We may think that self-care is selfish, but we surely know that we can do our best work when our needs are met. This blog explores the evidence around self-care and some practical strategies to cultivate it —a 5-minute read.
I’ve researched the amazing women in my network to distil their collective wisdom into five strategies for success: purpose, authenticity, self-care, quality relationships and the long view. Over the coming months, I will write about each one through my Strategies for Success blog series. This time, I’ll explore self-care.
“When I doubt myself, I remind myself about the objective facts of the situation, including my qualifications, feedback from colleagues and or clients, promotions and other achievements.”
"The first thing I plan for each week is exercise. I know if I don't, I won't be at my best.”
Strategies for Success.
For my research, the women I spoke to reflected on the multifaced nature of self-care, including relational, emotional and physical health.
What is self-care?
My definition of self-care is getting your needs met healthily. Our individual needs are unique to each of us, but it can be helpful to think about them through the following lenses: spiritual, physical, intellectual, relational and emotional (SPIRE).[1] In my research, the women I spoke to talked about the importance of managing their physical and relational health with others and their relationship with themselves.
There is a strong perception that self-care is selfish, particularly for women. We are raised to believe that we must meet everyone else’s needs before our own. When I notice this behaviour in myself, I remind myself of the metaphor of when on an aeroplane in an emergency, to put your oxygen mask on before helping others. We cannot help others if we can’t breathe!
Well-being has been in the spotlight during the pandemic, and many have struggled with social isolation and the 'always on' nature of working from home. Research shows that self-care and well-being are closely correlated.[2] The evidence-based tool I use with my coaching clients to support healthy self-care is the SPIRE model of well-being, developed by Harvard scholar Tal Ben-Shahar.[3]
Spiritual – leading a meaningful life and mindfully savouring the present.
Physical – caring for the body and tapping into the mind/body connection.
Intellectual – engaging in deep learning and opening to experience.
Relational – nurturing a constructive relationship with self and others.
Emotional – feeling all emotions, reaching towards resilience and positivity.
Each of these five perspectives is a helpful reminder of what needs to be attended to for well-being.
Why should we care about self-care?
Research shows that people who take care of their well-being have better life outcomes, such as better performance at work, more satisfying relationships, and better physical health. Still, they are also more likely to be prosocial than those with low well-being.[4] Prosocial behaviours are intended to help others, such as helping, sharing, and cooperating. Self-care to support our well-being helps us and those around us.
If we are getting our needs met, it makes sense that we would perform to the best of our abilities at work. Indeed, recent research demonstrates that high-performance and self-care can be mutually reinforcing and lead to sustainable success.[5] We also probably know from our own experience that repeatedly ignoring our needs does not usually end well, leading to feelings of stress or overwhelm, a bad cold or worse. Ultimately, continually deprioritising self-care risks burnout.
How can we cultivate self-care?
It makes sense that we will be at our best when our needs are met. However, meeting our needs can be challenging when juggling our busy lives. If we feel a bit off-kilter, the SPIRE model of well-being can be a helpful self-reflection tool to check if we are neglecting our needs. One of my clients sits down with the model and a glass of wine on a Friday night to reflect on their week and consciously check in on their well-being.
As discussed in the previous two strategies, purpose and authenticity, strengths can also cultivate well-being. Evidence shows that using our strengths in mindful and conscious ways predicts subjective well-being.[6] To benefit from this, we need to be aware of and consciously use our strengths – without overusing or underusing them.
Self-compassion is another strategy for improving our self-care through our relationship with ourselves. Research shows that self-compassionate individuals have increased resilience and happiness and decreased anxiety and depression.[7] Just like yoga, self-compassion is something we must practice. A simple self-compassion practice is this three-step mantra from Dr Kristen Neff, a leading self-compassion researcher: mindfulness (noticing what is): “This is a moment of suffering”, common humanity: “Everyone feels this way sometimes”, kindness: “May I give myself the kindness I need at this moment”.[8]
We've walked through the wisdom of helping ourselves so that we can help others without burning out, and we've reflected on the knowledge that self-care can be a mutually reinforcing component of high performance. I argue that self-care is a fundamental component if we want to enjoy a successful and sustainable career. We don't live in a perfect world, and there will be times when our needs have to be put to one side in the short term. I've experienced the excitement of working on critical projects requiring long hours and intensive focused work. However, if we allow this to become a habit, we risk burnout and will find performing at our edge and reaching our potential more difficult. Creating regular, realistic and healthy self-care habits, be it self-compassion or getting our physical needs met, can be the building blocks of a long and successful life. What is the smallest action that will have the biggest impact on increasing your self-care?
Learn more about my research and approach to coaching here.
[2] A study of The Relationship between Mindful Self-Care and Subjective Well-Being among College Students and Working Professionals. Sneha Chatterjee, Jaya Jethwani (2020).
[4] If, Why, and When Subjective Well-Being Influences Health, and Future Needed Research. Ed Diener, Sarah D. Pressman, John Hunter and Desiree Delgadillo-Chase (2017).
[5] Self-Care Is Not the Enemy of Performance. Jennifer M Heemstra (2019).
[6] Strengths Use as a Predictor of Well-Being and Health-Related Quality of Life: Alex Linley, Carmel Proctor (2010).
[7] Self-Compassion, Wellbeing, and Happiness: Kristin D. Neff & Andrew P. Costigan (2014).
[8] Self-Compassion, Stop Beating Yourself Up and Leave Insecurity Behind. Kristen Neff (2011).