How to find life balance
BY Evelyn Jackson (CEO and Creative Director)
International Women’s Day (IWD) means different things for different people. And for some it is not a day that matters at all. I used to be one of these people. Not because I did not believe in the cause. More because I expected everyone to naturally care about this topic and did not think an event was necessary. I genuinely did not think women needed a day to celebrate their achievements and highlight the inequality they suffer all around the world.
“I fought against the fact that as a working mum, I needed to be ‘helped’.”
I believe now that IWD is an important day. It is important because it gives organisations and governments an opportunity to refocus their strategies towards a diverse, equitable and inclusive world.
As a woman CEO, I know too well the demands placed on women who work. I also know the demands on men that work. And often, while the pressures and opportunities may be different, our inability to find life balance are similar. Having a mentor or being part of a mentoring program can support you on your own journey.
So how do you find life balance and why is it so difficult?
Finding life balance can be accomplished if you know yourself. Knowing what you want out of life, with reasonable expectations, rather than what you dream for. Too often we speak to individuals who have dreamlike goals that are in fact impossible to achieve given their circumstances. This serves only to fuel negative energy in your life, not to drive you to achieve them.
Identifying what you want out of life also requires you to be honest with yourself on what is important to you, what gives you positive energy and equally, to identify the responsibilities that you have.
Step 1: Identify your realistic goals out of life.
Once you know what your goals are, it is critical to be able to easily articulate this either by writing it down in one sentence or 3 bullet points. It needs to be memorable so that it is something you can remember and share with others that can support you.
Step 2: Articulate a life goal
This can be harder than it may at first appear. As for it to be memorable and something you can share with others, it needs to be easily understood.
“I want to be financially independent so that I can have the time to be a mum, help others and stay healthy.”
Your life goal doesn’t have to be unique – in fact, I know many people that have this, or a very similar goal as this one. It just needs to be true, and it needs to be meaningful to you.
Once you have this goal – remember it, share it with others and make it part of how you measure your success. When you are working more hours that you want to, when you didn’t get to the gym, when you missed a friend’s birthday dinner just because you forgot, ask yourself why. Honestly and with kindness.
When we explore these during our mentoring programs, we find in most cases, it is because you are not close enough to your goal or your goal is just something you thought about once, rather than something you think about or talk about on a regular basis.
Step 3: Check-in with yourself on your life goal
Checking-in with yourself on your life goals means assessing what you do every day, how you live your life, how you spend your time and thinking about what you can change to continue to work towards your life goal.
The simple act of checking-in leads us to work towards it and make choices that support it, giving us the life balance we want. Finding life balance requires us to be clear about what we want out of life. It means we take ownership of how to achieve life balance and we hold ourselves accountable rather than our partners, our leaders, or the organisations we work for.
While these tips may seem simple, they are difficult to live by. We often let life overtake what matters to us and we fail to check-in with ourselves, or we fail to make the right choices to support our goal.
A wise mentor once told me:
“Look after yourself first and you will be able to look after everyone else in your life. Develop your own skills and you will be able to develop others.”
With that in mind, start your journey to the life balance you crave. And make the time for Step 1.
Whether you are a woman or a man, we all need to celebrate our achievements and recognise the work that is still to be done to achieve our goals. And Life Balance is one that applies to all.
Written by: Evelyn Jackson, CEO of Corporate Crayon, Mentor at Find My Meaning, Employee Energy Expert, Mum and life partner in training.
To find out more about how to find the freedom to work and live better, contact us at Find My Meaning today.