Why is it so hard to put ourselves first?

Towards the end of a mentorship session this morning, we explored the challenge of finding purpose and meaning while living under the constraints and challenges of our current set of circumstances.

We talked about the desire to cultivate a hobby, we talked about carving out time, and after all of that, we got to the heart of the matter - which is this:

We’ve been conditioned to look for external validation. We’ve been conditioned to feel useful, impactful, meaningful when we’re doing for others.

We make time to work. We make time to parent. We make time to check on our friends. We make time to be accountable to others.

It is SO HARD to be accountable to ourselves.

There have been a lot of long days and long nights.
A lot of skipped workouts and missed parties.
Some of my goals have taken a really long time to accomplish.
Some dreams got put on the back burner or went out the window entirely.