One thing I’ve never been particularly good at is living a balanced life.
I know people who work full time, exercise, eat well, have hobbies, keep a clean house and also partake in professional development activities.
I envy those people, because that is so not me.
When I have my mind on something, that’s all I think about. I can’t fathom living a balanced life without going broke. When I have my mind on travelling or my career, my bank account suffers. Every time I try to focus on my finances, my relationships suffer.
Right now, I’m focusing on professional development. As I continue to do so, resulting in my earning more and being able to expand and grow in my career, my bank account balances out because the efforts pay off. When I am focused on building my career, though, I fail to have hobbies besides blogging, because it’s all about my career, and not at all about anything else. Even when I am at a social event, I’m talking about career and professional development.
I would love to find a better balance but I’m an all or nothing kind of person.
Perhaps as a result of my all or nothing personality, I tend to succeed in whatever it is that I put my mind to. One time, I decided I wanted to lose some weight that I had packed on after I moved to the Vancouver area, and I worked solely on that until I was at my goal weight. Everything suffered except for my weight loss and health, but it was effective and I reached my goal.
When I decide that I want to save money for a goal, I rock the budget until I have the amount that I wanted to save.
It’s not the most ideal way to do things, but with my personality, if I were to try to balance more than one goal or work on two things at once, I would wallow in mediocrity until I finally gave up one of them.
Prioritizing your focus, if you have a personality like mine, then, is very important. If you want to reach goals, you need to focus on one at a time until they are all picked off.
To figure out which ones to throw yourself into first, consider:
- The cost of your goal (and whether you can afford it)
- The time it will take to complete your goal, realistically. If you won’t be able to tie it up, don’t even bother starting. Wait until you have enough time.
- How badly you want it (because frankly, it’s going to be far too difficult to reach if you don’t want it badly enough).
Daisy! You sound just like how I used to be when I first began job hunting and working after college. That was only last year 🙂 I found out that I was becoming more and more depressed by just letting my finances go and my weight and my social life as I was just being sucked into work work work. I would talk about it, breathe it and live it everyday. On the weekends I was resting because I was tired from work.
Well you gotta push yourself! I wrote myself an inspiring little note that I have on my phone post-it note that tells me that to become the person i want to be I have to work hard at it. You need to remind yourself and surround yourself with the people who will promote balance in your life. Find things you love and whether you only spend 5 mins a day doing it, that’s all that matters. Start small – call family and friends up once in awhile, life is too short.
Yay, blog looks GREAT!! Nice theme!
I wish I could give you advice, but I’m in the same about as you. Thank goodness for the TV or else we’d literally have nothing to do when we get home 🙂
boat*
Hmm, well. I’ve let myself become swallowed in work before and basically I ended up miserable every time.
Now, I’ve sacrificed finishing my degree and kickstarting a career right away… I’m part-timing school instead, which is why I’ve still not finished my degree and I chose to become self-employed instead of working my way up the ladder. I realized that I’m not happy when I focus too much on work so I find the middle ground, I work enough to ensure a future for myself… but I’m not gung-ho on making it (anymore) My life is best when I enjoy my hobbies… getting out there, spending a few dollars (not too many 😉 ) on fun stuff. I have aspirations of becoming financially independent, and I haven’t lost sight of those goals but I’m also letting go a bit so I can chill and enjoy my youth.
It’s hard though and easy to go too far either way. Ultimately, if you know that focusing on your career NOW will result in you reaching your life goals and your happiness goals… I’d say suck it up for a little while longer, you’ll get there. But, if it doesn’t… find a way to rework things.