A short self-help monologue advising listeners to prioritize their own self-care ("put the oxygen mask on yourself first") instead of constantly giving energy to others. The speaker describes emotional exhaustion from over-giving, identifies fear/uncertainty around doing difficult inner work, and argues that personal growth enables you to have more to give others.
Chapters
Put the oxygen mask in yourself before others. I was always giving my energy to others, helping friends, family, colleagues. You feel exhausted by the end of the day. You don't have anything left for you. How are you going to grow without anything left in a tank? We want to give, and that's a good thing. But we need to leave space for ourselves. The strange thing is, we already know this, yet we still do it. There's a dark side. It conveniently diverts our attention from the real issue that working on yourself will be hard, filled with fear, uncertainty and doubt. You are in the driving seat, and this can be both unsettling and overwhelming. It will prompt you to ask difficult questions of yourself and to face your fears. But why? There's often a desire to grow, to feel your potential, to seek change and to let go of old ways. Therefore, these feelings are often inevitable. So you need to learn to embrace it. And remember, if you can build a better life for yourself, you can have more to give and to help others around you. And this is why you are told to.