Balance!……?
I reached out recently to find out what my readers were interested in learning more about or what they needed help with. “To balance healthy diet and exercise and time management” was one of the answers I received. Whoa! There’s the punch isn’t it? The thought that “I should be able to drop those pounds, get fit, eat healthy, and have time for yoga, meditation, crafts, keep a spotless house, work 8-10 hours, church, kid activities, look beautiful, etc., etc. You know how it goes!
I’m going to let you in on something. I know the secret to balancing all of this. You ready? There is none! It’s not possible.
I LOVE the dictionary definition of “balance,” which says, “an even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady.”
Who in the world can remain upright and steady trying to keep up with this image that our culture has pushed on us to be everything?
I found a great quote by Jack Welch who stated, “There’s no such thing as work-life balance. There are work-life choices, and you make them, and they have consequences.”
Take the word “work” out of the equation and that’s exactly what I’m talking about!
So what?!
Bottom line: your life will be a reflection of what is important to you. The scales cannot and most likely should not balance. So instead of this balancing act that we inevitably seem to fail at, let’s look at some tips on prioritizing so what is most important to you is getting your time and attention:
- Write down everything that is in your current schedule. I mean everything!
- Put a star next to anything that is a must-have in the schedule.
- Take the starred items and rank them in order of most important to you.
What you may find is that ever-elusive healthy diet and exercise (or whatever goal you wanted to work on) isn’t even on your current list, and if it didn’t even get a star, you now get to decide if it is truly important to you.
How do you get it to be a priority? You can….
Cut the crap! If you work outside the home and you’re a lucky one that gets eight hours of sleep a night, that leaves just eight hours a day to live your life. Cleaning the house made your list I bet and so did laundry and so did mentally a myriad of other things that you do in those eight hours that are not furthering your quest to live your best life and be your best self! So cut it out! No really! The house doesn’t need picked up three times in eight hours (even with kids, for real!) and neither does getting the laundry done, the porch swept off, blah blah. If it means something to you, you will find time for it. So go LIVE YOUR ONE LIFE!
About the Author
Deborah Smith is a life and family coach who works to help others overcome obstacles that are hindering them from becoming the best people and families they can be at One Life Coaching.
Excellent information on life balance and work. while reading i found what are the thing which i have to improve in myself. Thank you.