⚪️BALANCE⚫️

I'm sure that at some point in your life you've been given the advice to strive for work-life balance, which suggests..

that a comfortable state of equilibrium should be achieved between an employee's primary priorities of their employment position and their private lifestyle. Many psychologists would agree that the demands of an employee's career should not overwhelm the individual's ability to enjoy a satisfying personal life outside of the business environment.

.. However if you decide to choose a different path, the journey of self-employment, you will soon discover that at least in the beginning the word "balance" isn't part of your vocabulary. Now there will be people telling you that what you're doing is unhealthy and try to give you advice on your lifestyle.

When reading through different experiences of entrepreneurs, my favorite reply so far to the question of how one achieves work-life balance comes from Brittney Castro, the Millennial founder of a Los Angeles-based financial planning firm called Financially Wise Women. She says:

“Balance is a weird, abstract concept. The way I interpret it is, sometimes I’m focused on one or two areas in my life more than others, whether that’s for a day, a few months, even a year. But things change; seasons change. So instead of it being a pie chart where I have to give a little bit of my time and energy to everything, every day, I’m learning to better communicate my current focus to people around me. I find that once I stop thinking about the balance, it just happens.”

And I agree with her so much! My personal advice would be to never try and force balance. Do and focus on what makes you happy first and don't feel guilty about it! Always remember that time is the most valuable asset you own and only you can increase or decrease the price, depending on how you spend it. When you focus on you first and communicate that to you family and friends, only those who should be in your life will understand and stay. Remember:

 Others value your time only and exactly as much as YOU value your time. 

When I went to school my mother and I would see each other every day for hours, so it simply became normal and let's not forget many arguments and arguments. Now time has changed and we don't see each other that much, we rarely ever get into a conflict and when we do spend time together even if it's just an hour, we are both fully there, appreciating the time we have. Time is special, so let's treat it that way. 

Btw 9 months ago I wrote a blogpost on that topic: The most valuable currency you’re not investing properly

Also it is plain logic that the less you focus on, the faster you see progress. I personally do like to improve in different areas at the same time, but it took me a while to get there. If you begin sort of like this... trying to: loose weight, quit smoking, learn a new language, build a $billion empire, party with your friends and get enough sleep simultaneously (even if your list looks different), you are going to feel exhausted, and very soon frustrated. 

It's always better to start with less and achieve more, than to start with too much, feel overwhelmed and achieve nothing. As you know I'm a schedule-freak, and believe in strategic planning being 50% of the solution.

I personally like to start my day with some physical activity, a good workout; yoga or similar exercises, because it wakes not only my body but also my mind up. Then I straight go to tackle the most important task of the day. If it's large task that might be my goal of the day, maybe you have two or three (but no more than that when you're just starting out). 

The more you practice your efficiency, the better you will get at saving time and getting more done in a day. One thing I had to learn was to have a goal to accomplish each day. When I reach that goal I have officially reached  success for the day! If you don't have that you will never feel successful, because there will always be more to do in a day, but every day only consists of 24 hours and there is only so much you can do. I'm gonna let Oprah sum that up for us:

The key here as to anything else when it comes to no matter what... balance, scheduling, setting deadlines etc. that the very first thing you should think about before anything else is SELF-AWARENESS. Why? Because our minds work in different ways and the way to find out what best works for you is by testing different approaches. For example I used to think I was an "extreme person", meaning that I am that kind of person that focuses on one particular thing only and devotes all energy and time to that one thing. 

Now if you feel that you are a "kind of person" please do yourself the favor and read my last blogpost the science of psycho-cybernetics. As you will find out, you will only be that kind of person you conceive yourself to be, change your self-image and you will change your behavior, which will result in a change of your life. So I pretty much learned to not accept that "kind of person" I thought I was, create a new self-image because I knew it would be healthier, I would feel better and would consistently improve in all areas if I would change from extreme behavior to consistent efficient behavior. 

I began to create a schedule, set weekly goals, daily goals, improved and optimized and pretty much designed the balance I wanted and needed. When you do that, you eventually turn productivity into a habit, where you stop thinking about it. Y0u feel happy at the end of the day with the progress you've made by simply looking at you daily goals, instead of yearly or lifetime goals (a mistake a lot of people make), and at the same time you will be excited about taking the further next steps tomorrow, towards the best version of yourself.

Be kind, but don't let people abuse you. Trust, but don't be deceived. Be content, but never stop improving yourself🗝

Lastly, my reminder of the day: 

You are allowed to be a masterpiece and work in progress simultaneously!

I would love to hear from you, do you find balance in your life? If so.. how?

Much love, 

- Mrs.Steemit