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Balance - Part 2
Last month we focused on what
“balance” means and how to assess whether you have a balanced life. You
may recall the wheel image with ten spokes and you as the hub. Let’s
take a look at the wheel again. The ten spokes consist of:
You should have indicated your current level of satisfaction with
each spoke on a scale of 1 (not satisfied) to 10 (completely
satisfied). What did your wheel look like? Will it move forward
easily? Was it balanced?
In my coaching work, I find that many of my clients struggle to
maintain a balanced life. Typically it is a result of needing to
strengthen one or more of the following 5 areas of their life:
boundaries, priorities, organization and time management, tolerations,
and self-awareness. So you are probably wondering what these clients do
to strengthen these areas and bring balance back into their life.
First, you have to understand that there is no instantaneous fix that
will put your life in balance. Since being in balance is constantly
evolving for all of us, what you do to maintain balance must evolve as
well. That said, here are definitions of and tips to strengthen the 5
areas of your life in order to help you create and maintain balance:
|
5 Areas |
Causes of imbalance |
Ways to Strengthen |
|
Boundaries |
Not being able to say “no”
Over committing & feeling
overwhelmed
Allowing something to go
on or exist that you are unhappy about |
Identify what is important
to you and stay committed to it; when something or someone comes up
that is going to move you away from what you are committed to say no
or negotiate to a place you are satisfied with |
|
Priorities |
A three or four page list
of things to do that just keeps growing and growing
Don’t feel like you are in
control of the list at all |
Move from a list of to
do’s to a list of priorities. Rank and rate your to do list begin
to schedule to do’s according to their priority and the time you
have available. Rate and rank often as your priorities will be
forever shifting. |
|
Organization/ Time
Management |
Always late
Can’t find the simplest of
items
Stacks of papers all
around the desk
|
If you can’t do it
yourself get help from someone who can help you organize.
Schedule time to stay
organized.
Keep all of your
appointments (work & home) on one calendar.
Identify in advance how
much time you need to prepare, travel, etc to make an appointment on
time, work backwards from the appointment time, identify what you
need to stop what you are doing and move to the next thing in order
to be on time.
|
|
Tolerations |
Items in your life you are
putting up with (tolerating) that weigh heavily on your conscious.
For instance: a copier at work that jams every time they use it; a
report that they can never get to run the right way; or a broken
knob on a drawer at home. This could be the cause of distress and
imbalance and you don’t even realize it consciously. |
Create a list of the items
you are putting up with and wasting energy on for Home and for
Work. Identify ways to resolve these items. You may find some to
be small, simple, or easy and others that if touched will have an
avalanche effect. Be aware of what you are getting into as you do
it. |
|
Self- awareness |
Until doing the wheel of
life assessment you may not have really thought about how to define
balance and therefore didn’t have a starting point to understand
what about the current situation was or wasn’t attributing to being
out of balance. |
Do the assessment on a
regular basis. Continue to heighten your level of self-awareness.
Do so with the positive notion that it is to ultimately improve your
balance. |
I once had a client say, “This
seems like a lot of work. If this is what it takes to be balanced I’d
rather stay frustrated and unbalanced.” Not surprising. It does take
some work to create and maintain balance in your life. I would
encourage you, as I did my client, to take one small step at a time.
Don’t bite off more than you can chew. It only leads to disappointment
and a higher likelihood that you’ll stop altogether. Put a realistic
plan in place to strengthen one thing that will move you toward balance
and when you feel you have accomplished it take on another item.
Finding balance is not a one time shot with a miracle cure. It is a
lifetime evolutionary process that must be openly embraced and
maintained in order to constantly keep up with what balance means for
you.
Coach Effect works with
individuals who are capable of and want to achieve more in life. Our
Leadership Sherpas help you achieve your goals faster than you could do
on your own. If you want support in creating a plan to put balance back
in your life, contact Jennifer Mounce, for a complimentary session with
no obligation.
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