How to create balance in your life
You may have an easier time identifying when your life is out of balance but have you defined what a balanced life means to you? Find out 3 ways to create balance in your life.
We tend to have an easier time realising when life is out of balance as it leaves small and big clues and a few are included here:
· Burnout and stress
· Your “to do” list feels like an elephant in the room
· Tiredness
· Giving a lot of energy to others and not finding time for yourself
· Emotional upheaval.
However, describing what balance looks like for your life, may be less defined. How would you describe a balanced life for you? What does it look like? How does it feel? If you are to create a balanced life then it starts with describing what it looks like.
Balance for you might be when you have time each week to do something you enjoy and there’s nothing significant happening in an area of your life e.g. a health challenge. You are feeling centred and motivated to achieve your goals. Go ahead and brainstorm what it looks and feels like for you.
Balance is the perfect state of still water. Let that be our model. It remains quiet within and is not disturbed on the surface – Confucius
Next, you will need to bring in some tools and actions to help you create your balanced life and here are 3 ways to get you started on the right track:
1. Be aware of your signs of overwhelm. It might be that when you have a significant project or activity coming up that you start to feel anxiety about it beforehand and this can create feelings of overwhelm. When this anxiety comes in, it is a good practice to accept the emotion, observe it and then take an action towards the project/activity. For example, if you are facilitating a workshop and feeling overwhelm about all of the content you need to research and then present. The action would be to start researching the topic as this will support you with lessening the overwhelm as you are taking action toward the workshop.
For others, it might be a lack of structure, boundaries and grounding in their daily life. If you struggle with being organised, then you need to find a system that’s going to work for you. Here are a few suggestions:
a. Engaging an administrator or virtual assistant who have a strength for organisation.
b. Learning new organisational skills such as if you have a tendency to forget things, have coloured post-it notes to write things down and then stick them around your office or house in the best place that will help you remember. Forget the saying “can’t teach a dog old tricks,” your brain is plastic and can be changed with repetition to create a new habit.
c. Setting boundaries: Do you spend too much time supporting others and the flow on impact is then your priorities slip? Giving to others is a wonderful strength, however, all strengths can be overused and when this occurs, you need to acknowledge it and then go and communicate your boundaries to people. People are often very respectful of others’ boundaries if they are made aware of them. It can be as simple as the next time that person contacts you and you know there is work that you need to get done, you explain “I can’t speak right now as I am in the middle of X and I’m free to chat tomorrow at 10am.” Notice that I intentionally removed the word ‘but’ and replaced with ‘and’ as well. The word ‘but’ creates a separation whereas ‘and’ combines so it is received more effectively this way.
d. Grounding: often when you are feeling overwhelm, there’s much mental chatter going on in your mind. The first thing to do is to take 3 deep breaths to get out of your head and into your body. Notice your breath, your stomach going in and out with each breath.
The second step is to intentionally drop down out of your head and into your heart. Then spend some time outdoors in your garden and feel the connection to nature and the earth.
2. Wheel of Life: you can find out more about this tool by clicking here at MindTools and working through the exercises to help you to understand and create balance in your life.
3. Balancing the feminine and masculine energies. Understanding this strategy is one of the best ways to find balance in your life. One of the aspects to consider just like learning a new dance is between action (masculine) and rest (feminine) and noticing which energy is wanting to lead each day. If you are feeling out of balance look to how much action and activity you are trying to fit into your day. How much rest have you factored in? We absolutely need both energies working in partnership for a balanced life. Do you want to find out more? Then complete this free leadership quiz by clicking here now.
Here's to living your best life!
Melissa Taylor
Future Transcendence Leadership Mentor
Author of A Practical Guide to Finding Your Soul Purpose
