I’m not a fan of the word “self-care”. It brings images of day-spas and facial masks. Tom and Donna and “Treat Yo Self”. (If you don’t know what that is, watch the video.)

Yet, most Americans (at least who live in the space where I do most of my work) push themselves to the brink of mental and often physical destruction. Stress affects family, health, and personal performance - and often leads to self-destructive behavior.

So while “self-care” seems the zeitgeist of the first decades of the new millennium, there’s another side that can’t be ignored.

What’s in a name? A lot, I say.

I avoid the term “self-care” as it smacks of privilege and goat yoga. I do like the concept of “protecting the asset” - something I’m riffing on from Greg McKeown’s essential book called “Essentialism”. My colleague and I call it “PTA” time. Scheduled time for sleep, thought, exercise, and re-energizing. The difference between self-care and PTA in my mind has to do with what is indulgent and what is essential. Feeding the flesh versus feeding the body, soul, and spirit. Personal entitlement versus re-energizing.

You probably don’t need to “Treat Yo Self”.

You most definitely need to “Protect the Asset”.