The Importance of Regularly Checking In With Your Needs

When you honour your needs, you become resourced and supported — and from there, can truly thrive

When intensity sets in, how do we manage?

This past week, I found myself feeling the intensity of Scorpio season (if you know, you know) on an emotional level. It was as if everything was turned up a bit louder. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing—especially if we learn how to handle it. For me, intensity often means I need more space to integrate, acknowledge, and regulate myself through the shifts, changes, and new experiences.

After a brief moment of overwhelm over the weekend, I caught it and took a huge pause. There were needs below the surface that I hadn’t been aware of as new situations arose, and my being was asking me to tune into those needs.

This is why I vouch for doing a needs inventory every now and again. If we don’t know our needs in this season, and in different areas of our life right now, it’s pretty hard to ensure they’re being met—and to make sure we’re resourced and supported enough to meet what’s happening in our lives.

If you start to notice that you’re feeling resentful, burnt out, exhausted, overwhelmed, or frustrated, it may be an especially important time to take this inventory.

Take Your Needs Inventory

1. Notice what isn’t working first.

This helps you understand where to go next. What isn’t feeling good? For example: going into big meetings feeling under-resourced, or not getting to your exercise during the week.

2. Write out your needs.

Make a list or take note of a need that goes with each thing that isn’t working for you. For example: I need to go to yoga 5x/week. I need to schedule 15 minutes before big meetings to ground myself.

If you’re feeling decently resourced right now, you can also start with: “What do I need most in my life right now to feel my best?”

3. Take action on your needs.

Since becoming a coach, I’ve found this to be one of the most important steps—and also the one where folks often fall short. We do a beautiful journal entry that we feel great about, and then we fall asleep and forget about it the next day.

How can you bring these needs to life?

For example: buy that yoga pass you’ve been meaning to get, and put it in your calendar to register for classes every Sunday. Block off that 15-minute window before your larger meetings. Email that friend to set up co-working sessions on Friday afternoon.

Add a note in your calendar two weeks from now to check in on how these needs are feeling and to hold yourself accountable for putting them into action.

Optional add-on: Take a minute to visualize your most aligned version of yourself right now. What does she need to stay in that energy? To be her best? What are her non-negotiables? Add these to your list.

Remember that taking care of your needs is essential, because you cannot care for anything outside of you if you’re not nurtured and cared for first. All of these needs should serve as loving guidelines for how you live your life, rather than a to-do list of tasks.

For example, “I need to say no to last-minute plans” is a way of living, not another thing to get done. This reframe is an important distinction, as it helps the part of you that feels, “I don’t have the time.”

I’d love to hear what you discover in your needs inventory this season. Feel free to drop me a line in the comments or email me at hello@reconnectbyjessiebri.com. ♡

If you’re desiring to be held accountable and supported in meeting your needs through a new season, you can learn more about my private coaching series here.