Are you struggling to find work life balance? You are not alone! Every day millions of women just like you and I are trying to find a way to be and do it all. We feel guilty that our house isn’t spotless or we haven’t had a hairstyle since 2004. Did you know that makeup has an expiration date?! The kids need this, the school requires that, your new boss is a jerk and doesn’t care about your life outside of the office and your husband tries to understand but he just doesn’t get that while you look like you are holding it all together you are actually ready to cry or scream or just spontaneously combust.

You need balance.

We can’t do it all and shouldn’t expect ourselves to be able to because it isn’t fair or realistic. We see these snippets of celebrities who are thin, working in glamorous jobs all around the world with their kids happily in tow but what we don’t see is the myriad of staff that are helping them look so put together. I don’t have that. In fact sometimes I feel like I have the opposite of staff and instead have little minions whose job it is is to actually undo whatever I just spent 2 hours doing, but I digress, how do we find the balance so that we are not only surviving our lives but thriving in them? Hint: everyone’s answer is different…..and everyone’s answer is correct.

The truth is you have to figure out what works best for you and your family. If you feel like you are managing working 40+ hours a week, the kids sports schedule, and maintaining your household to your satisfaction then BRAVO! You are amazing! If you feel like you are struggling, stressed, and/or its effecting your health, then it might be time to reevaluate what is really important to you and make some changes. P.S. You are amazing!

Finding Balance to Find Peace

Prioritize

1.) Prioritize your life – what are the three most important things that you have to have/do/be to have a high level of satisfaction in your life? Is it your family, career, a new house, being physically fit? There is no wrong answer here but you have to be honest with yourself and truly define what you consider to be a “must have” or  what the airline industry calls a “no miss”. That means your “no miss” is always the priority and as long as whatever that is happens consistently and to your satisfaction then you will be happy. For airlines a “no miss” is that your plane didn’t crash. Kind of a biggie. However your luggage arriving at the same time as your plane isn’t one of them. They like it to happen, they try to make it happen but it isn’t the priority. Same with your life, figure out the three things that are your “no miss” and focus on getting those right, every single time.

Evaluate

2.) Evaluate what you chose as your “no miss” items. Is what you are doing right now aligned with making them possible? Did you choose being a class mom as a priority but you have an hour commute to your full time job? There is no way you can juggle that for any length of time without running on pure adrenaline and espresso! P.S. that will catch up to you eventually, trust me. Is it starting your own business but you are afraid to take the first step? Did you choose a new career but aren’t confident enough to leave your comfort zone to pursue it? No wonder you are stressed, the life you are living and the one you want are two completely different roads and as the saying goes, “you can’t get there from here”. Only you can decide what changes need to occur to realign your life with your goals; with the things that are going to bring you satisfaction and to truly enjoy the life you’re living.

Seek Advice

3.) Talk to someone who can help you determine how and what you need to do to find your balance. Is the only thing really tipping you over the edge being unable to keep up with the house? Look into hiring a cleaning service. Are you struggling with finding the time to go grocery shopping? Is there a way to order online so you can plan and prepare meals instead of winging it with kids in tow begging for every snack and toy they see. Do you need to make a major change? Something that will kind of change everything, talk about it with your significant other, best friend, mom, whoever you trust to be honest and supportive and really try to figure out how to make it happen. Your happiness is out there waiting for you to have the cojones to chase after it!

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