Image by jenny818 used with permission.
Have you ever asked yourself, “If I can just get through these next few weeks, then I’ll be able to work less and spend more time with my family”? I have. I noticed though, that I could never quite get to that happy place.
Here’s why: there was always more to do. More email to answer. More urgent text messages to respond to. More fires to put out. More projects to manage.
But that’s just reality. The work will never stop. (If it does, you might find yourself out of a job.)
For those of us in this situation—by the way, we’re all in this situation—what can we do? Here’s the answer:
If you want work-life balance, you need to approach your life with balance.
Here is an exercise you can do. You may wish to set aside some uninterrupted time and to write down your responses. I’ll share how you can take it further below.
Step 1
Imagine you’re an objective observer to your life. Describe what total success would look like for each area of your life one year from today:
- Work/career/business
- Family
- Personal
Step 2
Imagine jumping into each of those areas. Imagine you’re really there a year from now experiencing the success you’ve achieved.
- What does it look like? Feel like? Sound like?
- What are the key elements of each of these successes?
- Who is impacted?
- How are those people impacted?
- What might success look like to them?
Step 3
Now imagine all three of those areas in harmony with one another.
- What does successful balance look like?
- What does successful balance look like five years from now?
Step 4
Look back from the future, and ask:
- How did you achieve success in all of these areas?
- What actions did you take that made the biggest difference?
Step 5
Take action.
- Where might you begin to move toward that vision of balanced success?
- How might you begin?
- What steps will you take now?
