A lot of men fail to really properly take care of themselves, and this is something that we should all be concerned about. After all, with roughly half the population regularly failing to adopt basic self-care, this is going to have an impact on everyone and the culture as a whole. Whether you are a man or you just have some in your life that you are concerned about, it’s important to make sure that you know what self-care really looks like for men.

In this guide, we are going to go through this in some detail, including taking a look at many of the most essential aspects to taking care of oneself as a man. Some of these elements may be appropriate for all genders, but some are only going to be necessary for men. So let’s take a look and see what you might want to bear in mind when it comes to self-care for men.

Getting Ready To Start A Regimen

First of all, many people will need to actually set up a regimen for themselves if they are going to make a profound difference here, especially if it has been a while since you were last taking proper care of yourself. Because of this, it’s important to get ready for it, as preparation is always going to be the key to success in these matters. If you rush into it without being properly prepared, it is much less likely that you will make the regimen work for you, or that you will even be able to follow it as closely as you would like to.

For this reason, it’s vital that you get ready to start a regimen. But what does that mean, and how can you do so? First of all, revisit your motivations, so that you know why it is you are doing this new self-care regimen. Get really clear on it. Then you can start drawing up a schedule or list of what you are going to do each day, taking the following in this article on board to do so.

The better you prepare, the more you will get out of it, so it is absolutely something that you will want to think about. It’s going to make it so much easier and more likely to work. Let’s now take a look at some of the specifics for better self-care as a man.

Exercise

First of all, you need to make sure that you are being physical in your daily life. If you have a daily exercise regime, you are going to feel so much better about yourself in no time. Regular physical workouts will make you happier, more confident, give you more energy and willpower, and many other benefits besides. Of course, it will also help in ensuring you are much more likely to live a long time, which is important for most people.

If you are wondering how to actually make this work, there are some things to consider. Firstly, you should find a time each day when you can exercise, and then make sure that you stick to it. That is the most important thing. You should also consider switching it up a little, doing various kinds of exercise at different times and on different days. The more variety there is here, the better, and the healthier you are going to be.

Again, you will need to make sure that you are working on your motivation, especially if you feel yourself lagging on some days. This might be as simple as reminding yourself of your reasons, or you might need to do something to make it easier - such as working out with a friend. However you do it, as long as you are taking care of your physical side in this manner, you are going to be much healthier.

Positive Thinking

Positive thinking often gets a bad rap, but that is usually because of a misunderstanding around it. If you are forcing yourself to try and feel good when you just don’t feel good, that can indeed be problematic. However, if you are just generally trying to make yourself think more positively, focus more on the good and so on, then that is something that you should find quite beneficial. It is also surprisingly easy to do, as long as you start working at it and keep on persisting even when it gets hard.

Over time, this can become a habit to the extent that you will generally think more positively about everything that happens. This simple but powerful change can make a huge difference to your life, so it’s something that you should definitely aim for as best as you can. Again, don’t force it, but do try to work at it gently if you can, until you feel the effects.

Meditation

If you don’t meditate already, this is a habit that you can start up anytime which is bound to help you to live life more fully, be happier, and generally find yourself engaging with life in a better way. Meditation can seem very esoteric and strange, but it’s actually very simple. Indeed, it is one of those things which are so simple that it’s incredible what a powerful impact they can have. You might be amazed at what kinds of results you can get out of meditating daily, in fact, and it’s exciting to discover these for yourself.

If you want to start meditating, it’s best to start off slow. Take ten minutes a day to simply sit, relax, and focus on the sensations of the breath at the nose. This simple act can be profound, but let it unfold organically without forcing it, and don’t expect any fireworks. Over time you can develop the practice, so that you are both honing in more on those sensations as well as sitting for longer and longer periods of time.

With a regular meditation practice thus established, you will soon find yourself with a huge array of benefits: a calmer mind, an ability to be more mindful and make wiser decisions, and spontaneous moments of genuine joy, to name but a few. There are few tools for self-care which are quite as powerful as this.

Physical Appearance

Most people would agree that physical appearance is not the most important thing in the world. At the same time, however, most would also agree that it can make a difference to our self-view, and therefore to how much we like ourselves and how confident we feel. So if you want to make sure you are working on your self-care, you should consider putting some effort into your physical appearance, as well as the other things we have listed here.

What in particular should you focus on here? First of all, pay attention to any of those elements which you might personally want to change. A common example for many men is baldness. If you are going bald and you want to make sure you are able to do something about it, you can learn what are the treatments for men hair loss and then apply one or two of those treatments. Just doing that might boost your confidence greatly, if this is indeed something that you care about.

Beyond that, it’s just a case of working on your body, as above, and then making sure that you dress well. This is something a lot of men struggle with, but it’s absolutely vital to do it if you are going to try and be happy with your appearance in general. Make sure however that you are dressing for yourself first and foremost, not for other people. If you can do that, you should find that you are much more likely to be happy with how you look and how you dress.

Journaling

If you don’t currently keep a journal, this may again be something that you might want to take up in order to enjoy the benefits. Those who journal tend to report being happier, having a better sense of their own minds, and enjoying a whole range of other similar benefits to this too. If you would like all that, you should consider starting to journal at your earliest convenience. One good way to approach it is to think about having a particular theme or topic. For instance, you may want to focus primarily on gratitude - keeping a gratitude journal is known to be a powerfully positive mental health booster.

Whether or not you do that, you are going to find that writing regularly has a way of making you feel a lot better within yourself. So it’s a good idea regardless, and something that you should at the very least consider making use of, as a vital self-care tool.

Those are just some of the main things to try out if you are keen on improving your self-care practices. You should find that these are going to help you greatly in living more fully and being a lot happier.

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.