3 Things To Let Go Of For Balanced Success

I’ve been talking a lot lately about work life balance (specifically, why having balance and making good money aren’t either/or).?

And note: the phrase you choose to use (whether it’s work life balance, work life integration or something else) doesn’t matter.

What does matter? Your definition.

Because that’s your roadmap for achieving the balance YOU want. And make no mistake: you get to define what it means.

But before you do, please get clear around what it isn’t.

There are 3 common (incorrect) beliefs about work life balance that prevent you from achieving the balance you want. Here's what to let go of...

#1: Let Go Of The Balancing Act

Life isn’t a see-saw. You can’t put work on one side and non-work onto the other, expecting that it will all balance out.

What do you balance, anyway? Time?

The truth is you can't equalize the how much time and energy you put towards work versus anything else. All this will do is create guilt.

Besides, it’s impossible to compartmentalize your life like this. There’s more than just home and work. What about hobbies, spiritual endeavors, charitable works and so on?

And news flash: what happens at home impacts how you show up at work (and vice versa).

#2: Quit Time-Comparing

It's natural to compare how much time you spend working versus how much time you spend with family, attending to your health and so on. We attorneys especially tend to do this (what with needing to track every minute we work thanks to the billable hour).

There are two problems with this:

Problem 1: This naturally leads to a balancing act.

Which we went through above. But there's an even worse problem with time-comparisons...

Problem 2: It pits your professional life (and dreams) against your personal life (and the people you love the most).

Time-comparison creates conflict between these two important areas of your life.

You have big professional dreams. But they seem to conflict with your personal priorities. And so you think there's something wrong with wanting to achieve so much.

Just because you spend more time doing something doesn't mean you're short-changing the other things in your life. There is such a thing as quality too.

And there are benefits to you working (in addition to the money you make), such as:

• Personal fulfillment (that makes you happier and a better parent, spouse, friend and so on).
• Being a role model.
• Creating more independent kids (who are more capable of taking care of themselves).

The real issue is how you’re choosing to spend your time (i.e. a prioritization and presence issue).

Instead, focus on answering the following questions:

1. Are you spending 80%+ of your time on things that are priorities (or are you spending a majority of your time doing things that aren’t all that important to you)?
2. Are you able to give your full attention/energy to your priorities?

#3.? Stop believing trade-offs are inherently bad.

Trade-offs are part of life. You make them daily (often, without even thinking about them or realizing it).

The key is to be intentional about your trade-offs by:

1. Identifying what you want and why you want it (hint: use your values as a guide).
2. Setting values-based goals.
3. Deciding what trade-offs you are and aren't willing to make to achieve the things you want.

This will help you know your true priorities and be more intentional about how you go about achieving the things you want.

The Good News: There’s a Better Way.

Let go of the beliefs above and define what work life balance means for YOU. That will help you determine where to start making changes for a more balanced life.

Two quick things to note:

1. Measure balance by how you feel. Are you motivated and inspired to get up each morning? Do you have good energy most days? This is a good guide for figuring out where you need to make changes.
2. Your definition will change over time. There are different seasons to life. And circumstances can change you, your goals, and even what success (and balance) mean to you. Check in with yourself often to update your definition.

Ready To Achieve Your Version Of Balanced Success?

Learn how to be more intentional in creating your version of balanced success by?listening to last week's Life & Law Podcast episode >>>here.

XO,

Heather