Life work balance is a myth – this is what we actually should strive for!
Dr. Debbie Smrz, ND
Every time I go to a conference either as a speaker or as an audience participant, someone asks this question. Depending on how the entrepreneur responds, determines if I like and respect them. So, let’s unpack this question, how do you support life-work balance?
First, what the heck is life-work balance? Is it working and ‘enjoying’ life equally in terms of hours, or is the scale based on happiness, or a number of hours focusing on ‘self-care’, or personal time?
If you are an entrepreneur, which I know many of you are, then your personality type is not to balance, it is to be passionate about a new project, goal, or plan, and almost greedily enjoy devoting attention to it. What end’s up contributing to burnout, is negative emotion that you either put on yourself, or others put on you. Guilt, that you didn’t spend enough time with your kids, that you missed an event, that your house isn’t clean enough, resentment from your partner or friends that you are not giving them enough time, jealousy that other people seem to be doing it all and getting ahead and anger that you’re working so hard.
These issues, we can fix, but we have to re-examine what we truly want. I think the term life work balance is antiquated and ridiculous, instead, I want to promote work life harmony and happiness. This means that I’m fulfilling my purpose and passion in all aspects of my life.
How to Promote work-life harmony.
- Identify what bring you joy and happiness
- Identify your personal values
- Identify your priorities for this year, quarter and month
- Partner with people
- Be prepared to be flexible
Once you have identified the above, finding work-life harmony is much easier. We can quickly catch the negative emotion that might surround you with the shoulds, coulds and musts.
If you’re having a hard time determining your priorities or values, the wellness wheel below can help.
When you look at this, where do you like to spend your time? Is it on an adventure? Fun? Spirituality? Supporting a cause like the environment? Maybe exercise is a huge priority for you and it brings you joy, so physical is something you want to work on. Spend time, every quarter re-evaluating where you need to spend your most asset, your time. Then jump in wholeheartedly, and when your friends are going on diets or vacations, don’t feel guilty or jealous, as that’s just not your priority this month. Live it, walk the talk, and don’t apologize for it for one second!
In my pursuit to help entrepreneurs support their brain, mindset is part of the puzzle. If you are a current patient and we haven’t gotten to this stage yet, let’s dive in, it’s my favorite part of teaching self-actualization and thinking like a goddess. This is what will get you to connect and stay with your higher self and live your life with energy, passion and focus.