Nigella Lawson finds it tough to distinguish between her own needs and "the demands of others".
Nigella Lawson
The 59-year-old TV star has revealed she often asks herself what she'd do if she really did love herself, as many motivational speakers encourage people to do.
Nigella explained: "So much in the mantra market is predicated on your already loving, nurturing and cherishing yourself, and I can easily feel alienated. But asking yourself what you'd do if you did love yourself is a kind inquiry rather than a bullish boast.
"I find it the English antidote to the American school of self-care, although I have no idea where it actually emanates from."
According to Nigella, women of her generation have always been urged to attend to the needs of others before themselves.
As a result, the cooking show host often finds it tough to achieve clarity in her own thoughts.
She wrote in the Sunday Times newspaper: "Women of my generation were brought up to feel a sense of responsibility for attending to the needs of others, and it can be a hard habit to shift. And it is more complicated than simply prioritising one's wants: it can be hard even to distinguish what they might be.
"It goes beyond (though unequivocally takes in) the problem of being a people-pleaser.
"Those of us who are porous can often not even work out which emotions and moods belong to others we're in the same room as, and which we are actually feeling ourselves."
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