Are You Satisfied With Who You Are At Work And At Home?

Why you do what you do

The word on the street says that work-life balance is being replaced by integration and alignment. Some say it’s actually a choice on how you spend your time and talent in the world. 

 

What Do You Think? 

Read through the following three definitions and see what you feel best describes what you long for when it comes to your life professionally and personally.

Integration: to combine two things so that they become a whole.
Alignment: a union formed for a mutual benefit.
Balance: an even distribution of weight…or time, energy and talent. 

Let’s face it, you are who you are, whether you are working or playing, making positive connections at work or out of work, does it have to be either or? 

What if we spent our time as people who live integrated lives, weaving the fabric of who we are into what we do no matter what task we are engaged in? At times, we will show up with more energy for work related activities and other times we will show up with more energy for personal activities. The common denominator in all that we do is who we are while we do what we do. 

What If We Replaced It All with One Desired Outcome: Life Satisfaction? 

When you are satisfied, aligned with what you value most and know the person you are committed to being, you bring that presence and energy wherever you go. 

In training for my 2nd degree black-belt in Tae Kwon Do, we worked on expanding our inner balance on a daily basis with exercises that required us to hold a variety of positions with our body while working through any resistance of our mind (such as negative thoughts like I can’t do this) in order to expand our ability to create a solid internal equilibrium: spirit, mind, emotions and body.  

The purpose for expanding our balance was simple: to be able to create the necessary internal environment to support our ability to execute our skillset quickly and effectively in the ring to be able to step into our desired outcome. Metaphorically speaking we step into the “ring” of daily life and all too often focus all of our attention and energy on one area whether that be professionally or personally to the exclusion of other essential areas rendering us extremely vulnerable to burn-out and fatigue. Refreshment and inner contentment (a feeling of satisfaction) walks hand in hand with a balanced life style. 

Clarity of focus leads to accuracy of response so let us first understand the meaning behind the three words: work-life balance. According to Wikipedia, the definition of work-life balance is a concept of including proper prioritizing between “work” (career & ambition) and “lifestyle” (health, pleasure, leisure, family and spiritual development). Truly, it is the person you are in any situation that fuels a satisfied life no matter where you are or what you do. 

Reflecting on the experience of going through advanced cancer and divorce at the same time, I was left with extreme clarity around what I value most each day along with recalibrating how I show up in life. This is a touchstone of perspective that gives me the opportunity to align how I spend my time and energy each day as well as the kind of person I have committed to being while I do what I do with the time I am blessed with on earth. 

Too often, our lives are pulled out of balance because we follow shiny objects that distract us from our own moral compass and definitive purpose.  

Identify and write down specific areas that occupy your energy and attention during an average week and a percentage guestimate of how much of your time you spend in each area. For example, you may choose: Spirituality and guess around 5% of your time in a week is spent nurturing this aspect of your life balance; or career may fall at 65% of your energy and attention; family life 20% and fitness 10%. 

A few more categories to explore are hobbies and down-time where the refreshment of playfulness and lingering drop in. It is essential to drag out the details into the light of your awareness before suggesting options that support healthy life balance. Valiant honesty and the ability to adjust open up the avenue that leads to authentic positive behavioral shifts.  

Where are you spending your moments each day? Are you weaving into those moments what you value most in this life? Do you put your task above people or people above your tasks? 

A recently new phrase is slowly replacing work-life balance: blended living. 

Pause for a moment, take a deep breath in and release any tension in your body.

Today, set aside 10-15 minutes and reflect on your life satisfaction in your day-to-day ring. What percentage of your time is aligned with what you value most? Ask yourself 3 questions and write down your answers: 

The definitiveness of purpose drives our time management in life and ultimately our overall wellbeing and happiness. As you create more clarity around why you are here along with why you do what you do, your core values begin to emerge to the front lines of the person you have decided to be, which fuels your priorities in life. 

Decisions around your choice to commit to doing small actions each day that support your desire for contentment in life, inner peace and satisfaction are easy when your priorities around who you are, why you do what you do and what is the bigger purpose of it all are clear.  

Interactive Video: Work-Life Balance