The Power of Balance

Each time we return from holidays, we come with a renewed sense of excitement for the year. We say to ourselves that this year will be different. I’m going to be happier. Healthier. Have more balance.

Ironically I’m writing this after hours, but lets face it, it’s the only quiet time I get (I don’t have kids yet) and I really enjoy writing, so I think its ok.

I had that familiar “this year I will be more in balance” feeling again this January, but for a change, I’m actually doing something about it. For the first time, I’m taking my words and putting plans into action.

Why? Why is it different this year?

Because its not just for me. Its for everyone around me. Its for my family and my friends. Its for my business and my staff.

I pushed myself to my absolute limits last year, with every inch of my being concentrated on my business. And I was not the leader I want to be. I worked harder, not smarter.

By giving over every ounce of my energy to the mouse wheel, I lacked the ability to provide real strategic insight and lost touch with long-term goals.

Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook says “There's no such thing as work-life balance. There's work, and there's life, and there's no balance.”

I’m sure she’s a very smart lady, but I don’t agree. You need to make the decision to prioritise your personal life.

It takes persistence and some people may even knock you for it, but I guarantee, it will make you a better person. It will make you a better leader.

Rather than do a million things per day, I want to slow down and do things well.

I want to spend my time working closely with my staff and helping them grow. Because the more I nurture them, the more support they can provide for me in-turn and the better our organisation does.

My key to balance (so far) seems to be - do things you like doing, often.

I am obsessed with yoga, as I find the meditation really grounds me. Finding a cardio exercise I actually like however, is an ongoing quest.

I’ve started latin dancing – not sure I’m going to stick at it though. I love bush walking and so I guess I’ll keep doing that.

My main priority is to find activities that don’t involve going to bars and drinking. As a 30-something woman, I’ve found that every social event somehow always revolves around a cocktail. Each time I meet a friend now, I’m trying to make it that we do an activity. Whether it be a pilates class, a drive to the coast, paddle boarding etc.

The best motivator I’ve found is to buy a calendar and put dates of events in for the whole year, so that you are forced to arrange them. Otherwise a whole year will fly by and next thing you know it will be January and you'll be making the same old promises to yourself.

Some other tips I’m yet to master myself:

• Where you can, outsource key tasks.
• Be as organised as possible. I’m lucky, I have a wonderful assistant that organises my life. And I limit myself to a certain amount of meetings per day. Otherwise I find that I spend my whole life in meetings. If you spend all day in meetings, you spend all night trying to catch up on work from the day. Once you make the rule and make everyone aware, then it becomes easier to enforce.
• Give yourself “no contact” time. Today, we are never “off”. We are always on emails, texts, social media. Leave your phone in the other room at night.
• Don’t be afraid to say no.

Its only January, so I've a long way to go, but I'm determined to live and breathe this as best I can in the hope of a very rounded and fulfilling year.