Take Care of Yourself to Take Care of Others

2026-01-13

I’ve been motivated to work hard in school, my internships, and my full-time job for my family, siblings, partner, and future children. The idea was pretty noble, that I would over-extend myself now to serve as insurance later for those that I care most about.

I truly believed (and still believe) that having a life purpose that’s bigger than yourself, that’s not self-serving, is one way to make a life meaningful. It’s a big source of motivation when things are difficult emotionally, professionally, academically, etc. For example, I would think to myself that my academic success and future career success aren’t things that will only benefit me. They let me be a stronger support to my parents, a better role model for my brother, and more secure for my future children and family.

But all of this meant that I started skipping out on things that I needed for myself, including:

• adequate sleep
• adequate exercise
• adequate time to relax

At the same time I continued to take on professional, academic, family, and social commitments. This led me to overextend myself, leading to symptoms including:

• stress
• anxiety
• RSI (repetitive strain injury)

Living in service of others is meaningful and respectable but at the same time, I gradually learned that drawing reasonable boundaries is not selfish. This could mean:

• leaving a social event early or saying no to it entirely
• not feeling guilty for not taking on an additional professional commitment when you know you’re at your limit
• taking some time to yourself to sort through your thoughts and emotions, or to nap, or to sleep better, or to exercise

This is what got me thinking in this direction about two years ago.

And even if other people are judgmental about it, let them be and don’t worry about it. Everyone is on their own journey. What use is somebody who is so overworked, stressed, and anxious that they’re irritable or are not enjoying their existence and aren’t pleasant to be around most of the time?

Moreover after actually talking to my family and some close friends, rather than some distant idea of financial security or professional/academic success, what’s most important to them from me is time spent with them and my memories with them.

So taking care of yourself both physically and emotionally is critical.

Some ways that I take care of myself: recently learned that I find the following activities mentally soothing

• cooking
• walks and runs and gym sessions.
• writing
• rekindling old friendships
• meeting new people
• watching adventurous travel vlogs on YouTube
• riding my motorcycle

Now before I end off, I want to emphasize again, the point of this article is not that you should be selfish. I still strongly believe in a higher purpose and calling for my work. Rather just being practical, given the body my soul is housed in, it’s important to take care of myself and take care of the body so that I don’t burn out, so that I don’t succumb to other kinds of issues and I can continue to do what I enjoy and continue to be there for the people I care about, for decades to come.