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I'm on my level up journey and something I've always struggled with is self-care. Not doing my skincare, eating unhealthy, skipping brushing teeth, not taking care of my space, etc.
I'm not in a good stable place right now (financially and emotionally) so I'm sure that plays a role. But I feel like I lost perspective of what's important, or like I maybe need a new perspective on it so I can burn the importance of it into my brain.
Like, of course it's important, but I guess I don't have it registered in a way where it translates into my behavior.
First of all, make sure you sleep 8 hours a day, and you go to bed and wake up the same time.
What has helped me is having a "done list" instead of a to do lists. The point of a done list is that part of being an adult is recognizing that is unrealistic to expect that you will accomplish everything that you want to in one day. Some days you will have time to sleep 8 hours, other days you will have to stay up late to finish a project. Some days you will take two hours and make an elaborate healthy dinner. Other days, you may need to grab a protein shake and head to the gym. Having a done list has helped me focus on what I AM accomplishing rather than what I would LIKE to accomplish. I have every day of the week Monday-Friday written as a header in my notes app. Every time I do something good for myself, even something small such as writing in my gratitude journal or reading a chapter in a book, I write it under that days heading and give myself a star. At the end of the week I delete the lists and make the next weeks list. It has been helpful for me as I have struggled with perfectionistic attitudes and my approach is now "no zero days" rather than an everything gets done 100 percent of the time approach.
Then you got to solve this or deal with what you can and leave the rest to whatever higher power or fate there is. Or course you're not going to be motivated to do self care if there are huge worries on your brain. If you look at Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, physiological needs come before health needs. It's the base of basic human needs that must be satisfied before you can move on to the next ones.
There's a very famous Alcoholics Anonymous prayer: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference.
I’ve found for myself that if I don’t believe I’m worth it, no amount of checklists, app reminders, or “shoulds” will change my behavior, and I will tend towards self-sabotage. When I consider what my core identity is (or what I want it to become in the future), that will inform my daily habits which will go towards my goals. (The book, “Atomic Habits”, helped me with making distinctions between these 3 things).
I have the same issue, and find that writing a daily to-do list and including those self-care items is one of the only ways I can ever accomplish them. I always write out the list because it helps me to remember what I need to do, even if I only accomplish a few things from it. I also find that including self-care activities you enjoy, like the ol' reliable taking a bubble bath, can encourage and motivate me to do the other things I NEED to do, like brushing my teeth and doing my skincare. If you ever want an accountability buddy, let me know :)
If you were married to you (aka you're the love of your life)... Ask yourself... How would I treat the love of my life?/How would I like the love of my life to feel/live and so on...? Also like @Corgi suggested, get your basic needs met first and work yourself up. FDS has solid advice to structure your path into self fulfilment.