You wake up in the morning in hopes that you will get a little time to yourself but alas, there are tasks that need your attention. While you’re making breakfast (while juggling lunches) you start thinking about your patients and their needs. Everyone else starts to wake up and you wonder if and how you will be able to find time to exercise, meditate or go on a date with your love today.
Later at work you are fully immersed in the needs of your patients. You try not to be tired but you’re at the end of your shift and your energy is waning. Your stress level is rising due to what’s mentally and physically demanded of you-not to mention the high expectations you have of yourself.
You know how good you feel when you make time for fitness, spiritual connection and family. The issue sometimes is making it happen when you’re tired and other people need your attention.
Fitness and quiet, spiritual time (and I’m not talking about crystals and fluff but creating a relationship with Someone Greater) doesn’t have to be all or nothing. You don’t have to spend an hour on yourself seven days a week to make sure you stay physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually fit.
For each person, balance between work and family life looks different.
You don’t have to have the same balance as your friend down the road to have life all figured out. Plus, your life, your family and your work hours are different from hers so why should your life mirror hers? Remember, work/life balance is rarely 50/50 and it often shifts from day to day and week to week depending on what’s going on.
Think about what a perfect balance would look like for you.
How pleasureable could life be?
Write down the pleasures you will be able to enjoy when you have this balance. How will it make you feel? What will be so enjoyable about this balance? Will you have more energy to spend time having fun with your kids? Would you deny extra work so that you could go on the date that you have planned? When you have identified the pleasures that you associate with more balance they will motivate you to go after more of what you want–even when a lot of effort is required.
Make creating more balance can be a team effort.
You don’t need to do all the work! Some decisions you will need to make for yourself and your family. You may want to be the one who brings balance up in conversation but everyone can be a part of the change. Your love and even your kids can be involved in the process.
Make a plan.
Plan ahead for pleasure and the balance you desire. After you’ve identified what you need more of then you can lay out the small steps that will bring about change. You don’t need to make radical changes in your personal life to see big shifts in your life balance. Small steps create a large ripple affects.
Picture the ideal balance you could have. Don’t let anything stand in your way. What if someone said that six months from now (maybe even sooner) you could have that.
Decide what you want.
Then commit if you want to make a difference. Identify where you are out of balance, even in your thoughts. For example, if you notice that you are continually thinking, “I don’t have enough time” then my bet is that deciding and commiting to create more balance will not get you very far. You will need to change your thought patterns first. What pleasure will you get from more work/life balance? What pain will you experience if you don’t create this balance soon? How will the competing priorities in your life start to cause an increasing amount of pain? Write lists for both of these and let the pleasure and pain sink in and motivate you.
Make a plan. Take baby steps. Yes, you have a heavy workload but life can still be pleasureable. Give yourself a break. Stop pushing yourself too hard and let yourself relax. You have permission.
Don’t wait for what you want to come to you. Fiercely pursue more balance. Take it. Enjoy it.
xo
Amy
