My house renovation is still happening. Yes, I’m still standing, but the transformation is pretty real at this point.
On the positive side, this house stuff has been an invitation to practice not getting overwhelmed, which can lead to a crisis in work/life balance.
Because that’s all work/life balance is: Trying to create an experience where we’re not getting overwhelmed.
But the convenient tips you hear all the time about work/life balance are, well, a little too simple — and you’ve probably heard them one too many times:
Every fifteen minutes, get up from your desk chair and stretch.
Put down your phone during dinner.
Go outside.
These tips look good on paper, but are they really helping you when you’re feeling the sting of work/life imbalance?
I paint a different portrait of work/life balance; instead of doling out the same boring tips, you need something that’s more meaty and sustaining.
Personally, I’ve gotten really present to my own life: traveling, doing home renovations (almost finished — updated picture coming next week!) and expanding my business. I’ve been outside of my comfort zone, which has caused some imbalance in my life.
When work and life are out of balance, it’s creating a general experience where most of us feel that overwhelm.
If you’re an overwhelmed entrepreneur, you may already be aware of this pattern. This feeling can show up when you’re working too much over the weekends and not resting. Maybe you’re putting more money into your business than you need to and that’s creating overwhelm, or maybe you’re not putting enough money into your business and the same thing happens.
Look at where you’re exchanging energy with your money, time and how you schedule your days. If you’re doing things every day that don’t move you forward or you’re not excited about (ok, you still gotta do the dishes), that overwhelm is going to kick in.
Work/life balance begins when you’re actually balanced inside yourself. Where you put your time and money is a big part of that.
When you’re in alignment and balance with what you’re doing, that’s when abundance shows up more quickly and easily in your relationships, pocketbook, clients and new business.
What does that look like? It’s not necessarily a million dollars in the bank. It means you’re aware of all the opportunities coming your way that earn you money and business. To be in true balance, you need to be in alignment with a powerful, passionate, elevated intention that’s backed up with how you’re speaking and the action you’re taking, or nothing is going to happen.
This is what it means to set yourself up to win.
The biggest takeaway on work/life balance: What programs are you running when you’re away from your desk? If you’re still thinking about your to-do list when you’re hanging out with your spouse, you’re not really present. You might as well be working.
Real balance is shutting off all the apps on your phone and putting it in the charger until it reaches 100 percent without any other apps running in the background — except you’re the phone.
When you’re in your personal life without working, you may even get ideas for work while you’re offline. True balance is when your work and life are hand in hand, feeding your creativity.
Be in the flow of things and listen to where you’re not in balance.
If you’re looking for more lessons on work/life balance, I’ll be talking about well-being in relation to self-love over the next couple of weeks. Let’s keep the conversation going.
Until then, tell me: What does work-life balance mean to you? You may see your answers in an upcoming blog!
