Valentine’s Day is approaching and while we usually think of the day as a celebration of love between couples, we could also use it as an opportunity to practice some self-love. One way to go about this is to conduct an honest inventory of everything we have on our plate.

How often do we hear phrases like ‘my plate is full’ or ‘I have a lot on my plate’? What’s interesting about this is that although we evoke the imagery of food on our plate for the various tasks and things we do throughout our day, we don’t tend to think of the things on our plates as feeding us. As a consequence, we may end up doing many things that don’t really nourish or give us energy – these are the things we tend to do automatically, whether it’s out of obligation, habit or even a sense of guilt.

So, start by taking stock of everything on your plate and ask yourself – does this task, commitment, activity, or group of people actually fulfil me? Asking this question allows you to be more discerning about how you spend your time.

When it comes to activities that are not enjoyable, where are you saying yes where you would like to say no? Could you minimize the time spent on these things? If it doesn’t feed you in some way, it doesn’t really have a place on your plate (or at the very least, not as big a portion!)

There will of course be tasks you can’t avoid, but there are probably other items you could stand to remove, as well as items that you could add. For instance, how much time do you devote to things that are actually enjoyable? What activities do you do that energize or excite you? And how much time do you make for them on a daily basis?

Cultivating a more balanced plate requires not only an openness to ask the question: ‘does this truly feed me?’ but also a willingness to make the necessary changes once you have the answer.

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