Where is the Path to Balance?
Balance and an intense career usually don't co-exist.
They can, but they usually don't.
When you have a demanding business life, with people relying on you, demanding your time and your attention, decisions waiting to be made (some minor, some very significant), when you are on and off planes, presenting to groups of people, wearing your business persona, it is very difficult to remember to make some time for yourself.
It is almost impossible to stop and think "I must make some time to have fun in the weekend", as you may be so exhausted by the end of the week that you don't want to do anything, or you need those few extra hours on Sunday to catch up on some important work.
I know that variations on this picture will be familiar to many women.
At some point, many women decide they don't want to play this game any more, and decide to change their lives in some way.
Balance is about being true to yourself and what you really enjoy doing, not just in your working life but in your whole life.
If you are getting enjoyment from the above scenario, and still have little time for family, friends, fun, exercise, but you are genuinely enjoying yourself, then your focus may not be balanced at all, but you are happy.
At some point in your life, living and working at such a pace may not make you happy any more.
After all, it is to the exclusion of many other things you could be spending your time doing.
That is when we suddenly feel that our lives are not in balance.
Our focus changes.
We re-size, reconstruct and refocus our picture until we're happy again.
Life is balanced.
Our values balance us.
We all have to live in alignment with our values, and recognise when they are being challenged or threatened by what we are doing, who we are working or associating with, or how we are living.
Values drive how we live our lives, how we apply ourselves to our careers and our businesses.
It is our values and how we think that gives us balance, far more so than how much time we spend on all the different aspects of our lives like family, friends, self etc.
We sometimes are hard on ourselves for not spending enough time with our family, for example, but it is our value system about families and the people we love that is important.
It's not about anything else.
A balanced life is when we pay attention to our values.
Values dictate priorities.
So for any women in the corporate world, or running their own businesses, or for those wanting to make a transition in their lives, remember to define your values, understand them, and use them to guide you to a life that makes you happy.
It's that easy, and that hard, and that important.
Strategies for Balance
They can, but they usually don't.
When you have a demanding business life, with people relying on you, demanding your time and your attention, decisions waiting to be made (some minor, some very significant), when you are on and off planes, presenting to groups of people, wearing your business persona, it is very difficult to remember to make some time for yourself.
It is almost impossible to stop and think "I must make some time to have fun in the weekend", as you may be so exhausted by the end of the week that you don't want to do anything, or you need those few extra hours on Sunday to catch up on some important work.
I know that variations on this picture will be familiar to many women.
At some point, many women decide they don't want to play this game any more, and decide to change their lives in some way.
Balance is about being true to yourself and what you really enjoy doing, not just in your working life but in your whole life.
If you are getting enjoyment from the above scenario, and still have little time for family, friends, fun, exercise, but you are genuinely enjoying yourself, then your focus may not be balanced at all, but you are happy.
At some point in your life, living and working at such a pace may not make you happy any more.
After all, it is to the exclusion of many other things you could be spending your time doing.
That is when we suddenly feel that our lives are not in balance.
Our focus changes.
We re-size, reconstruct and refocus our picture until we're happy again.
Life is balanced.
Our values balance us.
We all have to live in alignment with our values, and recognise when they are being challenged or threatened by what we are doing, who we are working or associating with, or how we are living.
Values drive how we live our lives, how we apply ourselves to our careers and our businesses.
It is our values and how we think that gives us balance, far more so than how much time we spend on all the different aspects of our lives like family, friends, self etc.
We sometimes are hard on ourselves for not spending enough time with our family, for example, but it is our value system about families and the people we love that is important.
It's not about anything else.
A balanced life is when we pay attention to our values.
Values dictate priorities.
So for any women in the corporate world, or running their own businesses, or for those wanting to make a transition in their lives, remember to define your values, understand them, and use them to guide you to a life that makes you happy.
It's that easy, and that hard, and that important.
Strategies for Balance
