My Self Care Journey: from burnt out to balance

It was when the doctor told me “car crashes happen for a reason” that I realised he maybe had a point, as odd as his comment was. I went to see him having suffered with migraines for years, seven years to be exact since a car crash I’d had that left me with a shoulder injury which meant I couldn’t even pour myself a cup of tea. This developed into monthly migraines and probably wasn't helped by my lifestyle. When the accident happened, I was working my way up in the career ladder in a highly stressful fresh produce industry– working 80 hour weeks and still managing to party hard. 

My Self Care Journey from burnt out to balance

Roughly two years ago I reached a point in my career where I realised something had to give – I wasn’t enjoying it anymore and I wanted to do something else.  I was on holiday when I received an email with the subject said “So you want to be a coach” and I said out loud – “YES!” I realised that was what I wanted to do and by the end of the day I’d bought the domain name for my website and was coming up with a plan!

Rachel Letham, Global Business and Career Success Coach

I trained as a Certified Coach with Mindful Talent and now coach ambitious business professionals who seek clarity in their career or business.  As the training company name suggests, everything was with a ‘mindful’ approach and I became more aware of myself, how little time I was spending on mindfulness, living in the moment or any notion of self care. The only thing I really did for self care was a lot of running and drinking my favourite drinks, coffee and wine! Not really conducive to a healthy lifestyle. As I studied, listened to podcasts, started to practice meditation and jumped on the Miracle Morning bandwagon - I became hooked on self care.  

I decided to start writing a weekly newsletter to my followers last year, the Self Care Survival Kit. I share positive mindset concepts and two tips on how to bring self care into your life easily, at low cost and open to all.  Now in the interest of my own self care, I send this out twice a month. 

Sharing the Self Care Survival Kit Deck of Cards

Self care isn’t something you do once and tick off the list; The key to success is consistency and repetition of many beneficial tiny habits, which together soothe you and make sure you are working to your optimum— emotionally, physically and mentally. 

I am on a mission to normalise self care; to make it a positive habit, to take the stigma of it being a “selfish act” and to bring it into the mainstream. I’m a wellness warrior who wants to make self care the standard. Despite reaching a global audience on a weekly basis, I still have to remind myself to jump off the treadmill every now and again and to practice what I preach. 

Rachel Letham is a business and career success coach based in East Sussex  With the belief that self care isn’t something you do once and tick off the list her newsletter and Self Care Survival Kit deck of cards (available on Amazon and Etsy £14.99) offer thought provoking and actionable ways to bring self care into every day.