Saturday 20 January 2007

Work-Life Balance should be Life-Work Balance - what do you reckon?

We hear so much these days about the work-life balance, but isn't that bit of jargon putting up a barrier right from the start?

Surely life and all that it entails should be the priority, work is merely part of life. A major part of life for many people I know and I don't mean to diminish its value, by the way. Walt Disney kind of summed this up when he said:

"We don't make movies to make money. We make money to make movies."

When I am coaching people and ask what is really important in their lives, inevitably high up on their list is a desire to spend more quality time with loved ones, playing a sport, participating in a hobby, spending their hard earned money or simply chilling out.

If this rings some bells with you, why not try this short exercise...

  • First of all, think about your life-work balance on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being totally out of sync and 10 being a perfect score.
  • When you have done that, make a brief note of what a perfect life-work balance would mean to you. If this is difficult, try to think of an outcome you could work towards to move your life to a greater state of balance.
  • You now have a goal you can be working towards. Achieving goals usually requires a series of stepping stones to negotiate. Remember, a wise sage once asked:
"How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time of course!"
  • Think now about some actions you can take in the next few days to move you towards your goal. The things you are going to do must be realistic and achievable. Try to keep them positive and if you can, set a time for when you will do this activity.
Now what you have here is the start to a simple plan for living the kind of life you truly want and deserve. What do you think?

Imagine how you will feel when your life and work become more balanced.

Imagine what would happen if you applied coaching techniques like this simple one to other areas of your life: maybe you are not currently in your dream job? Perhaps you would like to live somewhere else? You might be stuck in a relationship that is holding you back? You might want to go dancing or sail a yacht?

We are all different and have different needs and aspirations. Sometimes we need someone else to help us find the right direction, to build up our confidences, to challenge our negative thinking, or to hold us to account.

A coach can do all of these things and lots, lots more.

Have a look at the Enfys Acumen website, I know we can help you to move from dreaming to action and live the life you deserve.

1 comment:

Nigel Griffiths said...

By the way, I know it is Saturday today, but I feel a little self-righteous because I spent this morning tidying up my allotment and marking out my beds for the new season.

An action resulting from a brief coaching session with Lynn!