JANUARY IS GET A BALANCED LIFE MONTH

Are you sick of making the same resolutions year in year out?

With the New Year just around the corner, we usually make resolutions with a willingness to improve our lives. But can we learn from previous years and do somethings differently this year to bring wellness in our lives, that would stick through the whole year and develop into healthy habits?

No matter where we look, we see people struggling to keep their life in some sort of order and balance.  Some have a better time with getting their lives into a balanced state than others. Others sometimes give up and let their lives crash into chaos and disarray.

Get A Balanced Life Month is for those hoping for a new start to get their lives into some sort of order and balance, to relieve the stresses of everyday life. We all know what that is like. We have all been there in one way or another, trying to balance something out to make it work so we have room for our personal life.

My “word” for this year is “PLANNING”.  This will form part of my new year´s resolutions as by implementing this, it will allow me to balance out the massive peaks in my workload and help me to avoid overwhelm.

To maintain a balanced life, we must do quite a few things to make sure it stays balanced. It doesn´t just happen!  We must MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Organisation: Even an organised home can lead to a more balanced life and lifestyle. Keep a calendar on the fridge to keep track of important dates and times. Organise items on shelves, either by date, alphabetically or by what they are.

Diet: Sticking to a balanced diet will help us not have those fluctuations of weight gain and weight loss forcing us to try quick fixes.

Exercise:  A balance between good nutrition, healthy eating and exercise is key to having good health.

Work/life balance:  This is important as if you do not have the balance, something will suffer.

Four pillars diary planning: I now work to the 4 pillars of Health, Relationships, Personal Development and Work.  If they are not balanced, I am neglecting something in my life.

Meditation/Relaxation:  This is excellent for grounding us and making our day feel balanced.

Finances:  This can be hard to judge as occasionally we do have unexpected emergencies that we have to pay for – but in general, if we know we have a month or two where we always have extra expenditure, let´s try to plan for it and spread out the cost by saving a little every month if possible.

Last Minute Expectations:  If you have clients, family or friends who often contact you last minute asking you to do something or for help or advice – meet these requests where possible, but not to the detriment of your balanced life.  Set boundaries – AND STICK TO THEM!

When we don´t actively make our lives balanced, it is easy to feel overwhelmed, stressed and possibly even burnt out.  Do you often feel you don´t know how you managed to get everything done?  Or is your “to do list” never ending?  Do you feel you just don´t know where the week has gone?  Do you feel all you do is work, work, work – and nothing is just for you?

If that sounds like you – NOW is the time to take steps to give you back control of your life and regain that BALANCE!

Make a list of areas you want to improve to help you gain that balance.  As I mentioned above, I use the 4 pillars and I find that helps.  When you write down everything you want to prioritise under each pillar, it may surprise you.  Which list is longest?  Your list can contain whatever you need it to contain from a work priority task, to simply spending quality time with your other half, or taking an hour out to exercise or have a massage.

Once you have written down all the areas under each of the pillars, list them as high, medium, and low priorities.  We often get bogged down with doing lots of simple quick tasks, but they end up taking a few hours of our time and could possibly be even delegated.  Do you have a cut off time from work each day?

Then in your planner, start to plan your week based on the 4 pillars.  Start with your health and write in the times you are going to do something for your health and what you plan to do, then do the same for relationships, personal development and LASTLY, work!  You can plan your week at a time to suit yourself – Friday 4pm, Sunday, or early Monday morning etc.  You can write your tasks under each of the pillars in different colours – so all your top priorities are in red, and so on. 

When you start to do this, and feel the effects, you will want to get into the habit and continue this throughout the year.

It´s OK to take baby steps.  It won´t happen overnight.  Be patient, don´t fall back into bad habits – MAKE IT HAPPEN!

If you find that you are tackling all your big tasks, but not finding time for the small things, especially work – it may be time to look at getting some help.  Hiring a VA may seem like an expense, but if it allows you to get on with what is important, then you will find you can achieve more income whilst maintaining your balanced life.

A little time each week to plan and review, will be time well spent.  Write down what you have accomplished, or what you did not accomplish – and if so, why not.  What stopped you?  Were your goals unrealistic?  Having this as a visual will help with your re-evaluation each week, month, and quarter etc.

By doing this, it should help you achieve the balanced life you imagined.  Your life should have changed for the better.  You can continue to improve on areas as and when you need, just by adding them to your 4 pillars planning.

There is always room for improvement in having that perfect balanced life.  However, by doing this and being more conscious about balance, your life will be much more enjoyable and fulfilled!

MAKE IT HAPPEN!