Balance, as we discovered earlier this week via Goldilocks, is about discovering what works best for you. Your sweet spot, when it comes to something like work-home balance may be completely different from mine. The main thing is to open up to who you are and where your balance point lies.
One of the things that is necessary, when looking to find the best balance for yourself, is stillness. You need to step away from the everyday business of your life long enough, and attentively enough, to really feel and assess your needs and desires regarding balance.
Taking work/home balance as an example, the knee jerk reaction might be to think that an even split (50/50) is what’s best. But it’s seldom that simple, as we are each unique, as are our situations. So, let’s try a quick exercise to dig a little deeper into balance for you:
Find a comfortable, quiet spot, and grab a pen and a pad of paper.
- Ask yourself what balance means to you. Quickly jot down the first five words you think of when you think of balance. Brainstorm more, if you like, but five will be a good start.
- Breathe deep and go back and remember three times when you have felt balanced in your life. Write them down.
- What helped you get there? Describe the situations or activities that contributed to your feeling of balance.
- Now look back at your five words. How do your descriptions match the words you listed? What do you discover?
The goal to reaching balance, when it comes to your energy and your time, is to observe yourself and notice when you feel focused and engaged. For example, when you are at home, are you thinking about work continually? Or do you spend a large portion of your time at work daydreaming and thinking about how you relate in significant relationships?
To a degree, observations like this may illuminate a need for increased discipline and focus. But it may also reflect a need to look at your values and your allocation of your time and energy.
The goal is to find the balance point that is “just right” for you. Like Goldilocks, you may need to try things on for size, before you’ll be able to figure that out.
So, while I don’t encourage you to do this in someone else’s house, I do invite you to objectively observe yourself as you move through your day. Notice what draws you and where and how you invest your time and energy.
Does this match what you value? Are there things you want to tweak to get them ‘just right’? The more you create balance for yourself the more energy you’ll have – and the more you’ll find time for what matters most to you!
Experiment and explore … and let me know what you discover – I’d love to hear!
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I really like this post, and it’s so helpful to actually engage in your exercises on the spot! The 5 words I came up with are:
Contentment
Thoroughness
Range
Flexibility
Wisdom
And situations where I feel balanced include those where I am reflective, disciplined and also when I start new projects! Again, it’s doing the exercises that yields the treasures and surprises. Thanks!
Hi Alison – I am so pleased that you took the important step of engaging with the exercises. And thank you for sharing the gems that you discovered.
I wonder how this will evolve for you over time.
You’ve made a great start on discovering what balance means for you – and I am happy for you!
Best,
Paula