Finding Balance: Prioritizing Self-Care

Creating a balance between work, relationships and your wellbeing can be challenging in our busy world. But a balanced lifestyle ensures you have time for self-care and to enjoy life. 

One of the many things I forgot to do for myself when I provided emotional support to my mother was to give myself time.  

My focus was on my mother and business. Hence why, eventually, my body forced me to stop. It had had enough. I had a nervous breakdown. So be warned. The body is incapable of coping with being overloaded, again and again, with the emotional drain that it faces every day. It will eventually give, in some way. Not necessarily a nervous breakdown, but through a serious illness or disease. It reaches a point of dis-ease.

Yet, sometimes, we can keep going and experience little impact on our physical, mental or emotional wellbeing. But at other times, life becomes sluggish and overwhelming, and nothing seems to go as it could. It feels like walking up a slippery hill with your feet slipping and sliding everywhere, and maintaining your balance is challenging. 

Here are a few tips to help you create balance in your life. Because when you have more time for yourself, it will support you in what you need to do. 

Your Mindset

💖 Watch your mindset regarding your work and relationships - overgiving your time and energy can deplete you. If you are giving a great deal to either or both, prioritize time for yourself. When you are kind and compassionate towards yourself, you have more energy, which results in you being focused and working smarter. So when there are times of high demand, you can respond effectively, but you still take time for yourself.

Rest and relaxation 

💖 time out for a mini break is good. Those breaks can be a few hours, a day or longer. Go for a short or long walk, or have a coffee at your favourite cafe. I love driving, so I would often put some music on in the car and drive a circuit - sometimes stopping off for a different walk, other times allowing myself the pleasure of being free to go wherever I want for a while.

I returned refreshed, but often, I would have come up with new ideas. It's amazing how changing your environment and doing something affects your stress levels and mindset.

Change your focus

💖 When you focus on work, relationships, or both, it may seem strange to start a new hobby, but finding something to do that interests you and provides you with pleasure, even if it's only for 30 minutes, changes how you feel. 

Make a promise to yourself that you will give yourself a set amount of time to focus on your hobby. I have promised myself I will learn Chinese. It, like any language, requires a commitment to practice daily. Therefore, every day, regardless of how much I must do, I ensure I review and practise what I have learned. And then learn some more.  

Changing our focus, even for 30 minutes, allows you to relax. We all handle life differently, but the truth is that our bodies need time to relax and let go of the need to control our lives.

Letting go of control

💖 Letting go of the need to control what you can't control, including the behaviour of others, is beneficial to our mental, physical and emotional health. It is not our place or right to dictate how they should behave to others. We don't like being told what to do or how we need to act. We are free spirits with a will of our own. 

We need to make our own mistakes to learn. And we don't need to take on the negativity of the world. I believe the ability to know so much via social media or the internet is detrimental to our wellbeing, as we can feel powerless to do anything. 

That doesn't mean you should stop caring about the world, but when you accept the only aspect of life you control is how you feel, what you say and do. It makes it easier for you to bring balance into your life. To have time for your health and wellbeing. 

And even in relationships, you must agree on how to manage the relationship, consciously or subconsciously. We often agree on how a relationship is through our actions rather than through open discussion and agreement. Constantly giving to someone is not necessarily healthy; you must still give to yourself.

We are the controllers of our lives - nobody else! Knowing that your choices and decisions are for you to make for your wellbeing.   

Share you insights and experiences in the comments below, how you give time to yourself. And what can you do differently to change how you manage your life?

I am an award-winning Empowerment Coach, Mentor, and Soul Growth Therapist. I help women become empowered leaders. To live by their rules without fear of being judged or feeling guilty for speaking up and being heard. Claiming their place in society, careers, and relationships. Calmly confident, healthy and financially secure.

#empowerment #leaders #wellbeing #relationships #balancedlife