Balance is Completely Possible

Nowadays everyone seems to be striving for balance in their business and personal life, and very few seem to be able to find it. I’m in quiet a few Facebook groups that are filled with business women, mompreneurs, entrepreneurs, dadpreneurs, you name it, they are all in there and everyone is talking about balance, and how it’s impossible to find it.

I hear people say “It’s impossible to find balance between work, kids, personal time and everything else I have to do.”

Or “It’s a struggle to get everything done and there is never enough time for it all.”

And so often moms are complaining that  “Something always get’s the short end of the stick.”

I completely understand why they feel that way. I for one, use to feel that way as well. I use to think that if I was spending 8 hours working a day, how on earth could I still do everything I need to do for my kids, clean the house, make dinner, take care of the laundry, drive kids everywhere they need to go and possibly find time for a shower?  When I’d look at my “to-do” list I’d get overwhelmed and begin to panic. I knew that something would have to give and it was almost always the time I spent on ME.

Then I realized that it did not have to be this way at all.

I realized that I was in control of my life, my businesses and everything I chose to do every single day.

I understood that my thoughts, my actions and my desires created my very own reality and so I decided that I was going to create a new reality for myself.

As a successful business owner, a homeowner, pet mommy, and a single mother of three very active children, I am absolute proud to say that I have found balance in all areas of my life.

But I do want to clarify a few things for those of you who are skeptics.

Balance for me is not speeding an equal amount of time or energy in all areas. Balance is not marking time just to say that I put in the hours and did equal amount of work. Balance is not pinning one activity against the other or holding yourself hostage to your list of work and not letting yourself step away till it’s done.

Here is what balance means to me in each of my areas of life.

Business

For me, balance is spending purposeful time in my business getting things done that will move it forward, creating the success I desire and the revenue I want. It’s about doing things that are important and leaving the things that show up as “urgent” for when I want to address them. It’s about setting a flexible schedule that’s conducive to my needs, while setting time to get all the things done I want to. It’s about setting boundaries up for myself, my clients and others in my industry I connect with on a weekly basis. Balance is being able to determine what I want to work on and allowing the rest to fade away. It’s knowing when I work the most productively and when it’s time to walk away from my work and leave it.

Kids

Balance is about the quality, not the quantity of time I spend with my kids. It’s about spending time together that leads to building strong relationships and getting to know them on a deeper level. It’s making them a priority when we are together and not allowing work or clients to get in the way. It’s about planning time that is completely for them where we can talk, play, spend one-on-one time, and have time for their activities. It’s about knowing when I need to be there and when it’s OK that they do things on their own. It’s about teaching them to respect my time and that I can be both a full-time mother and a successful business owner doing exactly what I love.

Personal Time

I would not be complete if I did not have balance for myself. Just me, doing exactly what I love. I don’t skip on this and I put it in my calendar every single day. One of the things I learned very early on in business is that you have to fill your own bucket up first, in order to take care of everything else. So each day I do several things that are completely for me and then I do a big thing each week. I refuse to let this time slide. For me I do things that bring me the MOST about of satisfaction even if it’s simply five minutes at a time. Again, quality is what matters most.

House

My house is one of those things that for me isn’t as important as others, so the balance in this area is what works well for me and my situation. My house is always clean and things always get done, but they get done when it works best for me. You might walk into my house and see a few dishes in the sink, like right now, as I write this there are dishes from breakfast that haven’t been done yet. But you know what?  That’s OK with me. It feels good, it feels right, and they will get done when I need them to. I also give my children things to do so that I’m not doing it all on my own. That evens things out and allows them to experience responsibilities.

Friends / Family/ Everything Else

Me, my kids and my business are the most important things in my life at this point. they come first and then everything else get’s scheduled around them. I have time for my family, for my friends and for everything else that comes along because I do it on my terms, around the things that I want, and I do it willingly. I never force things for others and I no longer say “yes” just to make others feel comfortable or happy. This is how I remain balanced and happy.

I have been able to find balance in each of the areas of my life that are important to me. Does it mean that there are things that don’t get exactly the attention that other people think they should? Absolutely. Does it mean that there are things that are left undone? Without a doubt. But to me, that’s OK. That’s how I am able to find the balance that works best for me, my business and the people who are important in my life, and still feel successful, satisfied, happy and fulfilled.

The reason I have balance is because I FEEL like I have balance. It all feels completely right, and above all of this planing and strategies, I have also learned to go with the flow and allow things that need to happen to work out how they do!

It’s time that you are able to find balance in your life as well. What does balance look like to you?