It's common to focus on the big things in life: career, health, family. We spend so much time and energy trying to achieve goals in these areas that we forget about the little things that bring us balance and joy. Here are my tips for finding more balance in your life—no matter what it looks like for you!
Visualize a balanced life.
In order to achieve balance in your life, it's important to visualize what you want. Visualizing yourself achieving a goal is the first step toward achieving it. This can be as simple as writing down on paper what you would like to do or have and then putting your picture somewhere prominent so that you are reminded of what you are working toward every day.
Once you have set this goal, break it down into smaller goals that will help lead up to the larger one. For example, if your large goal is "I want to improve my health," then one small step might be "I will take 10 minutes each day for exercise." Once these smaller goals have been accomplished, take note of how this feels—this feeling should be used as motivation for continuing on with the next small steps leading up towards reaching your larger goal!
Recognize your accomplishments, big and small.
Recognizing your own accomplishments can be difficult. All of us have a tendency to focus on our failures, rather than the things we do right. This is especially true if you are a perfectionist, or if you’re not used to celebrating success in general. But taking time out of your day to recognize each step along your path toward a goal can help keep you motivated and encourage continued progress.
To celebrate your successes, try writing down everything you did well this week: every time you stayed focused on one task instead of getting distracted by something else; every time you ate healthfully instead of snacking mindlessly; every time you stopped yourself from saying something hurtful or unkind. Then at the end of the week, take some time to reflect on those accomplishments and pat yourself on the back for them!
Reward yourself.
When you meet a goal, reward yourself!
When I complete a major project at work, I take the day off and go to the beach.
When someone comments on my weight loss or how much better they can see my eyes because of this new contact lens, I go out and buy myself a gift.
It's important that the rewards are things you enjoy doing or giving yourself for, not just material items like new clothes or tickets to an event. You may want to give yourself time off work or use up some long-unused gift cards before buying something new.
Practice gratitude.
Take time to think about what you are grateful for. It is important to remember that life can be hard, but there are always good things too. Make an effort to think about the things in your life that make you happy and thankful. This can be difficult if we are constantly focused on what isn't working out well in our lives, but it's worth the effort!
List some of the things you appreciate about yourself or your own qualities and characteristics. How many times do we really tell ourselves how great we are? Our self-esteem is so important, so remember to give yourself credit when it's due!
Write down three things every day that made your day better than yesterday (this can be anything from a cup of coffee or a new video game). This practice helps train your brain over time to look at all of the good things happening around us rather than only focusing on problems in our lives or those around us
Set realistic goals.
Be specific.
Set goals that are achievable.
Set goals that are measurable.
Set goals that are relevant to your life.
Set realistic goals and make sure they're time-bound (that is, set a deadline for achieving them).
Ask yourself how much is enough.
You can help yourself decide how much is enough by doing the following:
Ask yourself questions. What do you want to accomplish with your money? What do you think it takes to be happy? How much are other people earning and what do they have that makes them so happy? Will having more money make me happier than having less, or will it just ruin my life and make me stressed out all the time? If I did have a lot of money, would it change the way I spend my time with friends and family—and what if that wasn't a good thing? (And if not, why?)
Prioritize things that matter to you and let go of those that don't.
Prioritizing is a self-care skill, and like any other self-care skill, it takes practice. It takes time to get good at prioritizing, but once you do, it will be much easier for you to manage your energy levels and stress in ways that support your health and well being.
What are your priorities? What are the things that really matter? What are the things that could be let go of if necessary? These are all questions worth asking yourself when deciding what should be done first and what can wait until later. If something isn't important enough for me to do now, then maybe I shouldn't do it at all!
Relax and enjoy the moment.
Enjoy the moment.
Take your time to relax, and don't feel rushed or pressured to do anything.
Don't be in a rush to finish a task, or get somewhere, or finish your meal—just enjoy it as you go along.
Get in the habit of saying no to requests that are out of whack with what you want to do or accomplish.
Sometime in the past, you probably heard someone say something like, “You can say no to anything in life if you want to.”
This is not true! You can't always say no to everything. In fact, it's important that you don't do that because then your boss will become frustrated with your work performance and fire you (or at least give you a stern talking-to).
It is important, however, to get in the habit of saying no to requests that are out of whack with what you want to do or accomplish—whether those requests come from coworkers or friends or family members who mean well but may have different priorities than yours. Saying yes when we really mean no only hurts ourselves and others around us.
Don't multitask; focus on one thing at a time, if possible.
Multitasking is a prime example of this; when you try to do multiple things at once, the quality of each task suffers. You're less productive and more prone to make mistakes while multitasking, and you'll be less efficient with your time overall.
And there are other consequences as well: multitasking can hurt relationships with co-workers or friends by making it harder for them to get your attention (and vice versa), it also prevents you from being present in any given activity, which is crucial for creativity and problem solving. And finally, multitasking puts stress on the brain itself -- leading to memory loss and stress-related illness over time.
Exercise regularly, eat well, sleep enough and meditate when you can.
Exercise regularly.
Eat well.
Sleep enough.
Meditate when you can (and if you can't, that's okay too).
There are many practical ways to have more balance in your life
Having balance in your life is important for a variety of reasons. Your physical and mental health, as well as your relationships with others and the environment, are all affected by the quality of balance in your life. By making small changes to improve your balance, you can lead a happier, healthier life that makes you feel more satisfied with each day.
Here are some ways to incorporate more balance into your daily routine:
Eat nutritious meals every day. The food we eat makes up an essential part of our health and well-being; it's necessary for us to get enough vitamins and minerals from our diet so that our bodies function properly. A balanced meal provides just as much protein as carbohydrate does—and ideally also includes some fat (in moderation). It also ensures that we're getting enough micronutrients like iron or zinc (which helps prevent anemia), fiber (to maintain bowel regularity) and calcium (to build strong bones). If possible, make sure these meals come from organic sources so they don't contain pesticides or other chemicals harmful to humans' health; this will help reduce toxins entering into human tissues through ingestion over time!
Engage regularly with others socially online while being aware of potential consequences such as cyberbullying against others who may not know how best handle these situations themselves...
The point here is simple. If you want to live a more balanced life, you have to consciously make the effort to do so. It will take some trial and error, but as long as you keep working at it, you'll eventually find something that works for your needs—and makes you happier in the process.
