Recently, I had a conversation with my good friend and previous colleague, Melissa De La Rosa (@thatonefashionblogger) of That One Fashion Blog. She said,

“I need to also work on my mindset that if I’m not doing what needs to be done and being productive 100%, that I’m weak.”

Doesn’t that sound familiar?

I see this in so many of my friends and strong women I know.

We’re all trying to be everything but forget about the one thing we need to focus on the most: ourselves.

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You work all day, checking Instagram and Facebook and iMessages and emails in between online shopping and asking three of your closest friends to proofread your email to your colleague to make sure it doesn’t sound too bitchy.

You plan your meals, take your supplements, fit in your workout between sips of morning coffee or before happy hour drinks. Maybe someday you’ll love your body.

After work, you get dip manicures and do meal prep. You do face masks every night while you drink rosè in your bath tub and meditate with the Calm app between responding to Instagram DMs.

Ugh. This is tiring.

Maybe you should quit your job and travel the world and get a work remote job so you can find yourself in Bali and then fall in love.

Maybe you should start a blog. That’s what everyone is doing now, right? 10 Trends For Spring! 25 Best Drug Store Nude Nail Polish Colors For Under $15 That I Googled! The Complete Travel Guide To This Place I Spent 2 Days In!

Maybe if your Instagram follower number goes up, your salary will too. A Sunday well spent brings a week full of content, right?! Ugh.

Maybe if you get promoted at the job you’ve been at for 2 years with no upward movement will finally recognize you for your hard work. Maybe someday you’ll have the perfect, high-powered boss job you’ve always wanted.

Oh, and you have to be the perfect friend/girlfriend/wife too.

You feel like you need to be everything to everyone. Do everything. Stay busy all the time—because hustling is how you win right? Hard work pays off, so they say..

But aren’t you tired? Isn’t it tiring trying to be perfect all the time?

Is everyone this tired?

Does any of that sound familiar?

Aren’t you exhausted?

I’m exhausted.

I have an amazing husband, a passport with stamps from at least 10 different countries in the last year, I’m a size 4, have a budding super successful career, an adorable pug… and I had a nervous breakdown in October. I learned that you can still crumble even though you have everything, so stop trying to do everything and take care of yourself!

For years, I swept my feelings and issues under the rug—I ignored them and replaced them with BeachBody Workouts, Low Carb Diets, career advancement courses, blogging, networking, Instagramming 24/7. I felt so horrible. Tired all the time. Miserable.

Here’s something I wish someone would have told me sooner:

Taking care of yourself is work that needs to be done too.

Slow down. Take a deep breath. Let yourself do nothing sometimes. Just be.

You don’t need another project to work on.

You don’t need the perfect man that checks off all the boxes to be happy.

You are beautiful, no matter what size you are. Even if your arms are kinda fat and your eyes have huge dark circles under them and your hair hasn’t been washed in two days. IT’S OKAY.

You are much more capable than you give yourself credit for.

Give yourself permission to just be.

Give yourself permission to not be in control of everything.

Give yourself permission to live.

Taking care of yourself is work that needs to be done too.

Go ahead, go to therapy. Go on a walk. Travel alone. Move across the country. Leave your phone at home. Quit the job you hate.

You don’t need to be everything. You just need to be you.