Self-Care Is Not Self-Sabotage
Finding Balance: How Two Minutes of Self-Care Can Transform Your Leadership and Parenting
Choose Peace. Choose Accountability. Choose Yourself.
Being a parent while working full-time in a professional leadership role has contributed significantly to my need for self-care.
There is always something that needs my attention. At work, there are responsibilities, decisions, deadlines, and people who may need guidance. At home, there is my child, our routines, and the everyday responsibility of making sure he is cared for. In the middle of all of that, I have had to learn that I cannot continue giving my full self to everyone else while giving nothing back to myself.
Self-care does not have to be extravagant, expensive, or time-consuming. It can be as small as two minutes.
Two minutes to take a deep breath before responding. Two minutes to sit in quiet. Two minutes to drink water, stretch, step outside, read a page, or simply pause long enough to ask myself what I need.
Those small moments matter. They keep me anchored and bring me back to my center when work, parenting, and life begin pulling me in several directions at once.
The more I care for myself, the better I am for the people around me. I am more patient, present, clear-minded, and able to lead and parent with intention. Self-care does not take away from what I give to others; it helps ensure that I am not giving from a place of exhaustion, resentment, or emptiness.
Self-care is not self-sabotage. It is not avoiding responsibility, quitting every time something feels hard, or refusing accountability because feedback is uncomfortable. It is not using boundaries as a reason to avoid necessary conversations or decisions.
True self-care is intentional. It is also responsible. It means honoring our peace while still handling what needs to be handled. It means taking a step back without abandoning our commitments. It means embracing our feelings without allowing them to make every decision for us.
Self-care can be soft and disciplined at the same time. It can look like rest, a clear boundary, a necessary conversation, or a small moment that helps us reset before we pour into everyone else.
Choose peace. Choose accountability. Choose yourself.
I currently serve as an Office Administrator IV and Case Assignment and Placement Team Supervisor with Illinois DCFS. I bring 15 years of experience across education, leadership, and administrative operations. In my role, I support frontline child welfare work by overseeing case assignments, promoting data accuracy, and contributing to quality assurance. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a…
