A Balanced Life, LLC

A Road Map for Your Life

Like any other trip, we need a road map as we navigate through the journey of our life. Before the time of GPS or phone apps, I would often contact AAA and have them send me a TripTik before a road trip. They would ask me what was my ultimate destination. In addition, they would also ask me if there were any cities or points of interests that I wanted to see while on my trip. AAA did a great job of plotting out my road trip. They would send me maps of the states I would be traveling through and my designated route would be highlighted. All I had to do was get in the car and follow their directions.

We recently entered into a new year. Now is the time to stop and map out where we want to go and what we want to accomplish this year. Now is also the time to stop and plan how we are going to get our desired results. Having a resolution or an idea of what we want to accomplish is not good enough. We owe it to ourselves to stop and really plan how we are going to accomplish out goals and our dreams. This is what living intentionally is all about.

Excited About Tomorrow

I believe there is a big difference between living and existing.  When I have experienced different valley's in my life I was not necessarily excited about the possibilities of each new day.  My outlook of each day changed once I began to live my life instead of just existing.  Once I started to live my life, I began to be excited about each brand new day I was blessed to see. 

I was even able to deal with my challenges differently because I changed my outlook.  Now as I am getting ready for the next day I start to get excited about the possibilities of tomorrow.  When I wake up in the morning part of my prayer is that I thank God for a  new day that I have never seen before.  Then I think, WOW what an honor.  God granted me the opportunity to experience brand day!

When we give our children or loved ones give we want them to show some sort of appreciation.  As a parent, I think I would be disappointed if my daughter just disregared a gift that I gave her.  I would wonder what is going on if she did not say thank you.  And I might even get mad if I saw the gift just tossed in the corner.  I belive God feels the same when he grants us blessing, like being able to see a new day.

Since each day is a gift  I want to live so that I show God that I appreciate the gift that He has given me.  I want to take care of my gift and nurture my precious gift.  I want to handle the disappointments, challenges and triumphs in a way that brings honor to His name.  I want to make Him proud.  So, that is why I am excited about tomorrow!

Balance is about Flexibility

Living a life that is balanced and fulfilled requires that we are flexible. So many of us are trying to juggle our many responsibilities by sticking to a strict schedule. I must admit that I have been victim to to that many times. However, sometimes in life we have to abandon of schedules and to-do list for the unexpected.

For instance, there may have been times when we may run into an old friend or relative. We should not beat ourselves us for taking 40 minutes of our scheduled time to catch up with her in the parking lot of the mall. Instead, we should focus on deposit we just made into our friendship. You never know, something in that conversation could make the difference in your friends life. And vice-versa.

So, let yourself off of the hook. Being flexible and living in the moment allows us to make changes in our schedule as necessary. Remember that the items on your to-do list can still be done. It might take a little extra effort to do a little rearranging. However, life is too short. The relationships we have with our family and friends are crucial to us living a life that is balanced and fulfilled.

Eliminating Stressors

Overview
With the demands of the job, children, partner, family, extended family, friends, the economy and finances, it’s no wonder that our lives become stressed and unbalanced. It seems that one or more of these are always demanding our undivided attention and we end up with no time for ourselves or any other of the important people in our lives.

The Solution
Obviously, the solution is to get our lives back into balance and eliminate stressors. Accomplishing this may be easier than it first seems.

Professionals use a tool called the “Wheel of Life” to help determine areas that are out of balance. This tool is a circle divided into eight areas, each of which represents a sector of life with a 1-10 scale that indicates how content you are with that sector and which areas need work.

3 Ways to Create a Productive and Positive Work Environment

Having a positive and efficient work environment is critical to being successful and balanced.  For  some of us, it seems as if we spend more time at our workplace then we do at home.  This even applies to those of us who work at home.  Despite your particular situation, it is important that you design your office environment so that it is organized, efficient, and allows you to be productive.

Creating a positive work environment does not require that you spend tons of money.  There are many low cost and no cost solutions that can make your workspace productive.  Even the way we act and conduct business in the workplace can have a big impact on creating a positive work environment for those who work with us.  Listed below are a few ways you can create a positive work environment:

Be on Purpose

January is National Be on Purpose Month. I don't think that this is a concoindince. January is typically the time fo year that people develop resolutions and goals for the new year. However, instead of developing resolutions this year, I am going to develop intentions for the year.

I believe for us to live our lives to the fullest extent that we have to live intentionally. Living intentionally means that we are living our lives with a purpose. This means that we are living our lives with intergrity. I challenge each of us to start out this new year by living with a purpose. We also need to have to courage to make changes when our purpose changes. Periodically throughout the year we should check in with ourselves. We should evaluate if the same things that had meaning and purpose to us in the beginning of the year still have the same meaning. If they do, then continue living purposefully. If not, then take some to evaluate the changes and plan your new purpose.

This is another exciting year full of exciting new possibilities. Be on Purpose!

Maintaining Balance

It is hard to believe that we are in the middle of January in the year 2010. The new year brought in new expectations, dreams and intentions.  We are now reaching the point in the new year when some start to revert back to old habits.  However, now more than every it is time to stay focused and keep our New Year intentions in the front of our mind.  Having a sense of balance in our lives can assist us in achieving our new intentions.  There are several things we can keep in mind to assist us in feeling balanced every day.  Try to remember to:  

• Be realistic with your time.  Don't over schedule yourself.  Allot a few more minutes to complete a task then you think it requires.  Avoid calendar congestion by writing your schedule on a calendar or keep it in your Smartphone.  Consult it before scheduling commitments.

• Prepare the night before.  To help you get back in the saddle, it's a good idea to get ready the night before.  This doesn't just mean picking our your clothes and packing the kids lunches.  It can also include looking at your calendar and to-do list for the next day.  Consider all your obligations; not just what you have going on in the office.  Taking a glance at you commitments can help put you in the right mindset for the morning.

• Carefully evaluate all of your commitments.  It's great to be the one who volunteers for an extra project at work or sign up to make 3 dozen cupcakes for your child's class party.  However, before you raise your hand it is important to make sure that it's the right time and the right commitment.  You don't have to be everything to everybody.

• All the planning the world can't prevent the unexpected from happening.  It is critical for you to be flexible.  Being able to adapt to the unexpected is crucial when planning for the days, weeks and months ahead.

Keeping these things in mind will allow you to design a life that is balanced.  Remember, maintaining a sense of work life balance is a daily LIFESTYLE not just a New Year's Resolution. You can keep your momentum going!

Calendar Congestion

There are many time management experts that teach us the importance of scheduling ourselves and keeping some sort of calendar system.  Personally I agree that scheduling our appointments and daily tasks is a great idea.  Writing down our daily commitments is a great mechanism for making sure we keep track of everything we have to do.

I also believe that writing things down on our calendar allows us to examine if we are being unrealistic with our time.  Looking at our daily, monthly and yearly calendars can let us see if our calendars are congested.  Congested calendars are those calendars that have obligations and tasks penciled in from the time someone gets up until the time they go to bed.  A great visual clue is to look for white space on your calendar.  If we don't have any then chances are our calendar is congested.

There are several strategies that can be used to prevent or alleviate calendar congestion.  Some tips to consider when cleaning up are calendars are:

• Evaluate each and every appointment and commitment. Are our obligations in alignment with what is really important or is it filled with commitments that we feel pressured to accept?
• Do the commitments on our calendar reflect obligations from all aspects of our lives? Or are our obligations lopsided?
• Are we being unrealistic with the amount of time we are allotting for certain tasks or obligations?
• Are there areas where we can simplify and slow down?

Looking at our schedule on paper can be a visual reminder for us to decide if our calendar is congested or not.  Maintaining a congestion free calendar is a great tool for living a balanced life.

Define Your Integrity

As busy women, it is important for us to define who we truly are and where our life is headed.  Living a life of integrity and defining our integrity is the foundation for living a life that is balanced and fulfilled. It is important for us to ask ourselves Who Am I?

I like to define integrity as knowing WHO we are.  When I say WHO, I am speaking in regards to how WE define ourselves as women. WHO we are is not the same as WHAT people call us or WHAT we may do. These are what I consider to be roles we play or labels that are given to us.  For instance, our children call us mother; our spouse calls us wife; we may be a teacher.  These roles or labels may all be positive. However, they do not define WHO we truly are. When no one is around and we are by ourselves, WHO ARE WE?

Living a life of integrity allows us to answer that question.  It also allows us to define for ourselves WHO we are and What we are called to do in life.  Living a life full of integrity is not a destination.  It is a process.  Living our lives with integrity and aligning our daily actions with our calling is a journey.

How Does Balance Feel?

Often I have thought about what does living a living a balanced life look like.  From time to time I would change my definition of balance.  Primarily I believed that balance meant that I was able to divide my time equally between my job, family, household obligations, and my community  involvement.  However, it is my belief that I was off in my approach to living balanced.

Today I would define having balance is a feeling.  To experience balance is to use our intuition in establishing what it feels like and how it is exhibited in our lives.  Periodically we should examine the responsibilities and expectations of our life. After we truthfully examine our responsibilities, then we can start to design how to make things balanced for ourselves.

For example, we have the goal of wanting to renovate our kitchen. Before starting this project we should think about several things. For instance, school just started.  Our kids are trying to get back into the habit of doing homework and they have to stay after school several days a week for practice.  Let's also say that we have a tight deadline at work and there is the possibility that we may have to work a couple of Saturday mornings for overtime over the next 5 months.  And in addition, we have been asked to work with the Sunday school at church.