Balance

I’ve never been a huge fan of New Year’s resolutions that seem to last a few short weeks and then result in feelings of guilt. However, I have joined the growing trend of choosing a particular word to help me to set an intention or an overarching focus as I celebrate the beginning of a new year. I don’t paste it on my wall or get a tattoo or anything — although that might be fun, but I come back to it often throughout the year, as a reminder to live life by my own design.

On the surface, the word balance almost seems like a cop-out as my chosen word for 2023. Following such inspiring words such as undaunted, momentum and joy, which you can almost experience as you say them, balance just feels a bit “been-there-done-that” and too often associated with “work-life-balance”.

So then, why?

One of the definitions I found describes balanced living as considering all aspects of your life: relationships, work, fitness and health, and emotional well-being. And I feel like I actually do a pretty good job of that. But for the past few years it seems as though I’ve been working towards and striving for balance. This is the year that I will achieve it and live it!

When it comes to living your own life by design, do you feel as though you have balance in the key areas of your life? And at work, do have balance between the items on your “to do” list and your real priorities? Or do you get caught up in “busy work” and find yourself stressed out several hours later when you have yet to begin that proposal. Are you spending enough time doing the deep work needed on those activities which will have a direct impact on your bottom line?

Balance and time management often go hand in hand, along with focus and mindfulness.

I like to think of balance as the feeling you get when you manage your time and energy to meet your own personal goals.”

 It will be different for everyone, and there is no right or wrong. It’s not just about equally allocating hours of your day to the different priorities on your list. And it’s not as simple as spending more quality time with your family and friends, although that might be part of it.

I generally have several projects on the go at any one time, both at work and at home — I own multiple small businesses, work with dozens of clients, team members, co-workers, partners and collaborators. My husband and I have 5 children, extended family and friends. One of my goals is to ensure that each and every person I interact with feels that they have my full undivided attention when I am with them. They don’t need to know about the 50 other things on my to-do list, or how many notifications are glaring at me from my phone screen. I honestly want them to feel in that moment that they are my number one priority.

But an hour later, when our meeting is over, I also want them to understand that they can’t have all of me all of the time. Ha Ha.

And of course the hardest part is ensuring that I put myself at the top of that list, and that I too, get 100% of my undivided attention at some point each and every day.

So balance is not just about the 4 hour work-week, or turning your phone off while you’re writing so it doesn’t buzz and distract you (which I just allowed it to do). But it’s about the feeling you want to experience as a result.

The following diagram is a tool that can help you measure that feeling of balance in your own life.  If you can, print it off and use a coloured marker to indicate in each category how you feel today on a scale of 1 to 10. Where can you spend a little more time and effort this year in order to achieve the measure of balance you aspire to?

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