68: Balance or Harmony: Which is the Key to YOUR Success?

[00:00:01] Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving. You know, Albert Einstein's words remind us that balance isn't about standing still. It's about motion and flow. But here's the thing. Striving for balance can sometimes leave us feeling stuck.

[00:00:23] So today, we're exploring why work-life harmony is the real goal and how prioritizing yourself can change everything. Welcome to Work it, Live it, Own it, the podcast for women harmonizing their personal and professional lives by taking care of ourselves, our families, and building successful careers and businesses. I'm your hostess, SaCola Lehr.

[00:00:51] And so in this particular episode, we're going to break down some areas. We're going to talk about the flaws of the idea of work-life balance, why prioritizing yourself matters, turning harmony into action, and I'm going to close out giving you some actionable steps and how small changes can lead to a huge, tremendous impact.

[00:01:16] So let's talk about the flaws of work-life balance. And stick with me here because I know a lot of people we hear about work-life balance. There are a lot of thought leaders out there well-known that talk about work-life balance. But as Oprah Winfrey stated, you can have it all, just not all at once.

[00:01:40] And so balance creates this unrealistic expectations that everything must receive equal attention at all times. Think about it. We know terms such as the 50-50 split. Or when I think about balance and how you should give things equal attention, I think of cutting a pie and how each part we try when we cut pies or cakes to have equal portions.

[00:02:10] Sometimes life isn't like that. And so that can lead to guilt and burnout when life's natural ebbs and flows disrupt this so-called equilibrium that we're trying to perfect or try to achieve. And so I want us to actually challenge ourselves to shift from thinking about balance to harmony. Here's what I mean. Harmony isn't about perfection.

[00:02:40] It's about flow. Think of it like an orchestra where all the instruments are playing together, not equally, but in a way that creates a beautiful melody. And so harmony is about integrating our personal and professional life so that they complement one another. Let me give you another real-life example. I think of my aunt.

[00:03:07] My aunt is someone who juggles a 9-to-5, taking care of my grandmother, and has a side hustle. She's dual career. Now, when she was trying to achieve this perfect balance or achieving work-life, dual career balance, it became a struggle for her. She was burnt out constantly.

[00:03:34] She hasn't taken a vacation in years. And finally, she just said, you know what? I've got to be realistic. My 9-to-5 is what I do. It's my bread and butter. It helps fuel my passion for doing my side business and what I really, truly want to do. But I also need to take care of my mother.

[00:03:58] So during the week, she focuses on the 9-to-5 and taking care of my grandmother, while on the weekend, she's dedicated and blocked out hours on her weekend to do things, to spend time with family, and to make products for her business.

[00:04:18] And the result is that she's found more freedom by focusing on what really, truly matters at the time that it needs to be, but also aligning her life to her values. Let's shift over to why we should prioritize ourselves and why that really, truly matters.

[00:04:39] You know, Ann Lamott said that almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you. Now, a lot of people in certain cultures around the world may say, hey, self-care, that's indulgence. You're a mother. You're a wife. Take care of your children. And while this is true, family is very important for me.

[00:05:09] It's high up on my list. But what I've realized is that it's vital to take care of myself, to maintain my energy, my clarity, in order for me to succeed in all areas of my life. It's about looking at self-priority versus selfishness. Because if someone says, oh, you're putting yourself first, isn't that selfish? Listen.

[00:05:41] Setting some boundaries around certain things in your life and taking time to take care of yourself allows you to show up better for others. Here's some examples that you can do while still taking care of your family, but also taking care of yourself first. You can schedule 15 minutes daily for mindfulness, for journaling, even taking a walk.

[00:06:07] You can dedicate time to a hobby or a passion that energizes you and saying, okay, I wake up in the morning. What does my children need? What does my spouse need or my partner needs? What does my boss need for the day? But you also need to include in that list of what do I need for today? This goes along with living your values.

[00:06:35] Steve Jobs says, your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. The reality is, is that if you have kids, they're going to grow up. They're eventually going to leave home. And if you don't take time to take care of yourself, to do things that fuel you, that energize you, emptiness syndrome and that period of your life is real.

[00:06:59] But it can also be, have a very tremendous impact on your relationship with yourself, with your partner. Because if you've given everything to your kids and you've forgotten yourself, you've forgotten your partner, you're left with this big hole of trying to rediscover who you are and the relationships that you are in.

[00:07:22] So I want you to reflect on what's really, truly important to you, whether it's family, health or creativity and align your actions to those priorities. And here's a strategy that I want you to take away for prioritizing yourself. I want you to list the top five values and assess whether your daily activities align with them.

[00:07:47] And I challenge you to eliminate one task or commitment that doesn't serve your values this week. That could be a committee meeting. That could be a board that you're a part of. If it doesn't fuel you and it's draining you, I challenge you to take one of those, one of those tasks, one of those commitments that doesn't serve you and take it off your plate. That's a challenge.

[00:08:16] I didn't say it was going to be easy. It's a challenge. And email me at info at workitliveitownit.com and I would love to hear your success story, your after story on this. Next is turning harmony into action and how small changes can lead to a big impact. Let's start by tweaking our daily routine. For example, I talked about a walk, right?

[00:08:45] We could block out uninterrupted focus time for work and plan non-negotiable family meals or personal time. You can build momentum with small wins, even that 10-minute walk to reset your energy and create clarity. Take that 15 minutes in the morning to do something for yourself. This may mean if you're a mother or a parent, you may need to wake up earlier in the day so you can have that quiet time.

[00:09:12] Even if it's just that quiet time to sip a cup of coffee, tea, or your favorite beverage in peace, in silence. Let's talk about creating a harmony framework. And this is really the crux of what I like to do when I'm working with women.

[00:09:43] Step two, schedule your most important commitments first. Focus on your energy, not your availability. Let me say that again. When you are making your schedules, sometimes we look at our schedule for the week. I have a friend who likes to sit down and look at their schedule on a Sunday evening and make sure doctor's appointments for the kids,

[00:10:13] any appointments that pertain to the family are in there, but also appointments for herself. But let's look at scheduling time for our energy to keep our energy up. For me, I have vacant time in my schedule. That means that's untouchable. That means I can choose to do what I want.

[00:10:39] If I want to do something artsy, crafty, whatever, that's my time. Not basing it on when am I available. Step three is adjust weekly. What may work this week may not necessarily work the next week. So harmony is dynamic and it needs regular tweaking to remain effective.

[00:11:03] So again, to go back over those steps, I want you to define what your priorities are across your career, your health, and your relationships. I want you to schedule your most important commitments first. Even if that means you got to completely wipe out your calendar for you, your personal calendar, and look at what do I want to schedule in that's going to fuel me, that's going to give me energy. Focus on those things first. And then adjust weekly.

[00:11:32] Tweak it weekly. This is about progress, not perfection. And then I want us to reflect and reset. Ralph Waldo Emerson says, What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

[00:11:51] So I want you to reflect weekly on what went well, what needs adjusting, and what can I let go of. So today, here's your challenge for today. I want you to take 10 minutes today to create a harmony checklist. And that harmony checklist can look like this. What energized me?

[00:12:19] What drained me? What's one small change I can make today to align my life more closely to my values? So take 10 minutes today to ask yourself and do this checklist. What energizes me? What drained me? What was one small change that I could have made today to align more closely to my values?

[00:12:47] And remember, as Mahatma Gandhi said, Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. Work-life harmony isn't a destination. It's a journey. It's a process. And so by focusing on your values, prioritizing your self-care, and experiencing and embracing flexibility, you can create a life that feels authentic and fulfilling.

[00:13:15] And if you would like more information on how to start creating core values in your life, in your career, in your business, I strongly encourage you to check out episode 13 in the Work It Live It, Own It podcast. I will leave a link to that episode in the description below, but that is episode 13, all about core values. I hope you've enjoyed this episode. If you have, please subscribe, leave a review,

[00:13:44] and share it with the women that you love in your life who are seeking more harmony. And until next time, my beautiful people, keep working it, living it, and owning it in your everyday lives. Take care. Take care. Take care. Take care.