It’s easy to make broken promises to ourselves.

Which promises to yourself keep getting pushed aside?

“You’re going to take that trip this year, right?” “Definitely going to plan a day with friends… just not right now.” “You’ve been meaning to book that spa day you really need…”

And somehow, it never feels important enough. Your needs? They always come last.

There’s so much to do: work, school, social obligations, trying to be the best version of yourself. So you push it back. It’s important, yes, but not as important as everything else.

Yet when someone else asks you for something, you’ll go to the ends of the earth to follow through. You’re reliable, dependable, a person of your word… just not to yourself.

That was me. And I realized this mentality had to end. What kind of message was I sending myself? To those who look to me for inspiration? I kept promising myself I’d do this or that “right after everything else,” and it never happened. I burned out, constantly pouring from an empty cup. My needs, the things my body and mind begged for, were always second, always postponed. Every new to-do list I made included those promises again: the spa day, the massage, the gym, the nap… the peace I needed.

What message are you sending yourself when you keep putting yourself last?

I can be ten things at once for others, but I struggle to show up for myself. Selflessness is critical, but selfishness? Ew, no. Never.

And the truth is, that creates a barrier. A wall. Too many broken promises. Not enough self-trust. Not enough honoring of my own needs. I don’t have children of my own yet, but I think about the person I want to be: the role model I want to embody, the example I want to set for myself and, maybe one day, for others.

I felt that wall growing around me.

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what building self-trust actually means. You don’t wake up one day and just have it. Trust, with anyone, a friend, a partner, a colleague, grows in small, consistent moments. They say they’ll show up, and they do. Self-trust works the same way. It isn’t built through perfection. It’s built through imperfect consistency, showing up honestly, allowing yourself a reset, and moving forward without punishment.

This is the same rhythm I try to reflect in my stories. My characters are imperfect, just like me. They make mistakes, stumble, and fall, but they try again. They learn openly, with full hearts. Through books I’ve written, like Mila's Moment: The BIG Mistake, and the upcoming Book TWO in the series, kids can see what it looks like to truly show up with curiosity, even in those tough moments. They learn that effort matters more than perfection, that taking small but intentional steps matters, and that self-trust is practiced in meaningful ways every single day. Sometimes we just need a little nudge or reminder, and it all starts with step one.