9 Strategies For Regaining Your Work Life Balance

 

I like working with independent professionals and artists because of the way the work life balance shows itself in our lives - for us, life, work, and business exist in a nexus from which we cannot easily extract our ways of loving, relating, and making meaning. The challenges we face in business inform our personal lives and personal challenges affect our businesses.

Rich as it is, the relationship between personal and professional life can be rocky and maintaining that work life balance is often a tricky issue. I experienced this before when, within a few weeks of declaring some new goals for my business, my wife lost her job unexpectedly followed my my daughter needing surgery just a few days later. If this wasn’t bad enough, a job that I was doing on a major client’s personal items messed up due to a material flaw in the product he purchased, but, though it was on him, he decided to discontinue our working relationship. All of these factored together to lead to a personal melt down.

The problem was that I felt like a loser. I enjoyed the work that I did with this client and I couldn’t get out of the funk. Before I knew it, we were looking bankruptcy in the eye and didn’t know what we could do other than give up.

I've been caught between the promptings of my spirit and the requirements of my business more than a few times, and I knew all sorts of success formulas, but none of them seemed to help. I also knew it was possible to take care of ourselves and our businesses if we are willing to do the work, but I couldn’t shake the funk and it led to a deep depression.

We lost our house, one of the cars and had to move to the other side of the state; we had to borrow money from family just to get settled, but my wife had gotten a new job and I was able to reestablish my business in a better location and things finally started getting back to a level that I could see a light.

As Les Brown once said, “When you fall down, always land on your back. That way you can always be looking up no matter how low you fall.”

Here are nine strategies that, taken together, can help to change course without abandoning the destination and help you restore your work life balance:

 

1. Don't panic.

Even if you feel panicky, you can choose modest, recoverable steps to address the situation. This is no time to get a divorce, fire an employee, or buy a new computer system. Tip: Talk with a coach or therapist to get perspective.

 

2. Return to Source.

Whatever your spiritual orientation or tradition, connect with what for you is the Source of life or spirit. Know that there is something larger than you that encompass you. Spend at least 15 minutes each day connecting with that Source. (I like Mark Silver's Remembrance Practice described in his free downloadable workbook Getting to the Core of Your Business.)

 

3. Take a body inventory.

Are you sleeping well? How are you eating? What's your energy level? If these are not up to par, get a professional evaluation and take the steps that will restore your well-being.

 

4. Tell the truth.

Sometimes energy flags when we've gotten into a pattern of pleasing others or living according to standards that are not our own. Notice if there is any misbalance. Notice where you're being less than forthright with yourself and get clear about your motives, then clean it up.

 

5. Keep good company.

Are you stimulated and encouraged by your peers and clients? Do you have great playmates? Playing on the wrong playground with the wrong kids is neither fun nor productive.

 

6. Tune Up Your Thinking.

There's substantial evidence that managing the way we think can have a profound and lasting effect on mood and motivation. See Amazon.com for books you can use to tune up your cognitive skills and/or make a date with a therapist. (If you are otherwise in good psychological health a skilled coach can help, too.)

 

7. Set Healthy, Flexible Boundaries.

Yes, real life and real business are intimately connected, but that doesn't mean that you need to give up your privacy. To find your work life balance, set boundaries so that you can feel generous without feeling depleted and available without feeling invaded. Keep them flexible, because things change.

 

8. Create or Refine Systems.

We can't manage real life and a real business without good systems. Look at where things feel most out of sorts and resolve to create or improve a system to get things on track.

 

9. Keep the Goal, Drop the Plan.

Sometimes the best way to achieve a goal is to let go of our plans. Promptly and clearly revise commitments and offers as necessary to bring current activity in line with current resources. Why abandon ship when you can drop anchor while you make some repairs?

For me, these strategies led me to go past what I was doing and concentrate on this dream that I had to help others get out of the rat race and make a legacy that the future will benefit from. Having stopped the war between myself and my business and realizing that there was more to me than my work, I was able to restore my work life balance and now feel more engaged with the things that I choose to take on (like writing this blog and creating a training program.) My goals have went from safe to audacious and are now shining possibilities instead of looming obligations, and if it takes a little longer to reach them, arriving will be all the sweeter.

In 2016, make it a goal to balance your life.

 

 

You Never Get A Second Chance To Make A First Impression

 

 

In many cases, your website is the first thing your new potential customers will see when they meet you. Are you making a good first impression? Meeting someone online is little different than meeting them in person; unfortunately, you have less than a minute to catch their attention and keep them reading.

Do they like how you look? Are you saying what your customers are looking to hear? With the future of your online business riding on your words, are you making a good impression? Here are five ideas to have your customers staying longer and remember you long after the encounter ends:

l. Dress nicely and be well groomed. Have you ever been to a website you were ready to leave as soon as you got there? I have. Chances are things were too loud and too busy.

Though there may have been something there of interest to you, you weren't likely to have found it because there was just way too much stuff going on.

So what is the well groomed website wearing this season? Not too many loud flashing headlines. Instead, make sure your site is calm and confident. Your headline and first paragraph should be a summarization of the website theme. Who you are, what you're going to share with them and why you decided to do so.

No one likes to read half a page only to find the site didn't deal with his or her issue of interest. No flashing lights, no neon headlines, no blaring music or boisterous sales pitches blasting away.

2. Have a nice voice; be friendly and pleasant. Have you ever met someone you initially thought you'd like to get to know... and then they opened their mouth and you realized you knew all you needed to? Your website should speak to your readers like a good friend might. Be easy to understand. Write in short sentences, with short paragraphs.

Each paragraph should have a theme, stated in the first sentence, and elaborated on through its conclusion. And though it's so tempting to put some fancy font on your website, you have no idea what they'll see based on how their browser may be set up, which browser they are using, or if they are reading your site on a laptop, desktop or smart phone.

Stick to the basic Arial, Helvetica, and other Sans-serif fonts. They're easy on the eye.

3. Talk just to them; treat them like they're the only one. Rather than talking to the masses as a whole, write to a particular person. Picture them in your mind and write as though you are having a private conversation with them.

Be their friend - This is something for 'you', not just anyone. They'll feel like you really like them and like they have your undivided attention. Always use active voice rather than passive.   It will make them feel as though you're speaking directly to them.

4. Always focus on their needs rather than being pushy and trying to move too fast. Nobody likes to be around someone who pushes the relationship too quickly. You want to get to know someone before you get too emotionally involved. There was a reason this person chose to visit your website. Address that need. How can you solve their problem? Don't tell them what you have; tell them what problem of theirs you can solve. Making a purchase is an emotional decision. If you move too quickly, they won't be ready to commit emotionally. Get to know them first.

5. Give them a reason to stick around or come back. Give them something they can't get anywhere else. While yes, they probably won't feel as special at any other website, but on the off chance the competition is also following these five steps, give them a free mini-course. Let them see you care about their success and about them. Show them you value the relationship. Give them a free report; something to help them reach their goal.

If you follow these guidelines, you'll make a wonderful impression and your new friends won't want to leave. They'll appreciate your thoughtfulness and stick around long enough to see what an absolute 'peach' you really are.

 

 

12 Reasons why Smiling makes you More Successful!

 

When you realize the true benefits that one gains from a smile it is surprising that more people don’t spend more of their time actively sharing them with others.

 

1. Our smile shows others how friendly we are.

 

If a stranger approached you and gained eye contact with you and then treated you to a broad smile you will have a fairly good idea that he or she is being friendly and means you no harm or ill will.

 

By contrast, however, we often find it far more difficult to give trust to a stranger that approaches with a scowl or unfriendly look on their face.

 

2. A smile can make people happy.

 

When someone treats you to a smile, even a stranger, you usually can’t help but smile back.  For that moment you enjoy a flash of positive communication without saying a word. As you walk through a crowd such as a social event, you may find yourself doing this hundreds times in a very short period of time. 

 

When you smile at someone who is not already smiling and they smile back you have brought a moment of happiness into that person’s life which, who knows, could last all day.

 

3. Smiling can be (and usually is) infectious.

 

When you are in the company of someone who smiles a lot you will soon discover that their smile starts to wear off on you.  It is hard not to return a smile; most of us do it at an unconscious level without thinking.

 

4. Smiling could make you popular.

 

Which type of people do you prefer; A: the person that has a tired and listless face or B: the one with an expression that may reflect their inner thoughts of boredom and worry or C: someone who is always smiling and shows that they have an enthusiastic passion for life?

 

I think for the majority of us the choice is be clear!

 

5. Smiling can bring new friends into your life.

 

In the same way few of us would make a conscious choice to be miserable, we generally stay away from other people who are unfriendly. Lets face it we all want someone who is going to be bubbly and a happy and positive person. 

 

6. A smile is a gift usually returned

 

When someone smiles back at you it make you feel good inside. You have just made a short, but very positive communication and possibly the first step in the process of getting to know or making friends with someone new.

 

7. Smiling makes you positive and happy inside.

 

When you smile it is hard to feel unhappy, negative or sad in anyway. Smiling gives you enthusiasm and drive; it can also become quite habit forming.

 

8. A smile makes you look more attractive.

 

You don’t see many celebrities or media personalities that are not smiling because if you did it is fairly certain that their popularity would quickly start to drop!

 

9. Smiling also helps make you memorable to others!

 

Have you noticed that smiling people are usually far more memorable than those that are not? It is a fact that you are 3 times more likely to remember the person that is smiling over the one that is wearing a negative or neutral look on their face.

 

10. More important, smiling is good for your health!!!

 

When you are smiling you find whatever you are doing far easier. It releases stress, worry and tension that you may have built up throughout the day. Long term, developing the smiling habit will be one of the smartest things that you can do to improve most aspects of your life.

 

11. The effects of smiling can last for hours

 

Whatever problems and challenges you have in your life, smiling temporary puts them on hold.  For a while you forget the problems and become more positive, and while you are in a positive state you have far more potential and power to advance and improve your life.

 

12. Smiling is FREE!

 

You are never going to run short of smiles and will always have enough to go around.  When you weigh up the positive points of smiling it is a no-brainer decision to do far more smiling and share them with as many people as possible.

 

Keep smiling.