Saturday, 19 of May of 2012
Your guide to a life without limits!
Welcome to the Quest Leadership Coaching weblog. We hope that you find the dialogue helpful to your development. Our interests center on business, leadership, and the development of work-life balance. Please join the discussion, as we would welcome your thoughts and comments.
Greg Atchison
Consistently living life out of balance – at a frantic pace — comes with a price. Not only for the people who are experiencing the imbalance, but also for the people they care about, and the organizations they serve.
Did you know that companies lose between $200 – $300 per person annually due to work place stress? Did you know that 80% of people feel stress on the job and that stress is the number 1 health problem? And global studies indicate that 70% of workers do not feel they have good work-life balance.
Frantic, chaotic, hectic lifestyles cost us not only the joy we find in life, but create a feeling of loss of control, while negatively impacting everyone and everything around us.
Choose to move toward balance, so instead of paying the ‘price’, you can reap the reward’.
Each day we make choices that influence our pace and quality of life, and often we are completely unaware of the choices we are making and how they affect our life balance. So often we are operating from habit, instinct or need. While it’s a good thing that we don’t have to think about every little choice we make, when it comes to creating a balance between our work-related activities and the rest-of-our-life activities, it is critical to be conscious and deliberate about our decisions. Otherwise, you may find yourself feeling the negative effect of your unconscious choices by feeling overwhelmed, out of control, stressed, or even sick.
Life balance is something that we all aspire to. While it may seem like a goal you will never achieve, there are some simple steps you can take to gain control of your life instead of it having control of you. Imagine living a life in which your time is your own and where your opportunities for fun and enjoyment are equally balanced with opportunities for work.
Having a balanced life feels like an elusive dream for many of us and every year it is high on the list of things to change. There is no doubt that our lives are filled with demands pulling at us from many different directions, sometimes with no end in sight. But small choices can make a big difference in getting your life back into balance.
Self care is a critical part of living a well-balanced life. But it can be a real struggle when there are more things to do in a day than there is time to do them, and if you are used to putting everyone and everything before your own needs. But in order for you to deal best with life’s demands and be energetic and available to those you love, it is important that you make time for yourself.
Work life balance is a constant struggle for us all. It seems like even though we have more ‘conveniences’ in our lives, we have less time than ever. The more demands that are placed on us, the more we ‘tune out’ to the stresses of life, and robotically get through our ‘to do’ list so we can collapse at the end of the day to start again tomorrow.
Sometimes people feel that in order to have more balance in their life, they will have to make life altering changes. While that may be true for some people, most of us will experience more balance if we start by making small, intentional changes. Often times it is the small deliberate changes that ultimately have us feeling more peaceful, content, and in control at the end of the day. Here are a few small things you can implement right away that can make a big impact in your life balance:
Can it be that easy? Can someone really achieve a balanced life in 4 simple steps? Life balance is all about choices – choices that move you toward what makes you feel content and fulfilled. But in order to make those choices you have to take these 4 steps.
Life balance is as individual as you are. Ultimately it is the balance between how much time you spend on ‘work’ and ‘life’ that feels ideal for you. And that ideal balance means different things to different people, and it changes during different phases of our lives:
Your perfect day of balance, peace, happiness and contentment – what would that be? Have you ever thought about it? Where would you be? Who would you be with? What time of the year would it be? Would you get up early or sleep in? Would it be a perfect day of working in your profession? Serving others through charity? Spending time on your favorite hobby? Spending time with family? Or recreating by golfing, fishing, dining or shopping? Take some time to think about your perfect day, write it down and visualize yourself living it. Perhaps you might discover that it is not so far out of your reach and you can make it happen.