If you’re like me, your life is probably pretty busy. There are so many things we can be involved in and before we know it, we can easily be maxed out and in over our heads. Many of them are “have to’s” and others are just wants or desires… things we enjoy, would like to do, always wanted to learn, etc.
Sometimes we make ourselves busier than we need to be. We over-commit. There could be many reasons behind that, including not being able to say no or actually thinking we can do “just one more thing”. But in reality, we can’t be all things to all people and probably will not be effective if we try to participate in every opportunity that comes our way.
Life Balance
One of the challenges we face is keeping our life in balance. That will look different for each person. What does life balance look like for you? We all have exactly 168 hours each week. No more, no less. When it’s gone, it’s gone. Life balance is really important. When it’s off, we feel stress and all sorts of other emotions and may see negative results in our day-to-day life. Sometimes we have to let go of good things in order to say yes to the best things.
So how do you decide?
As you consider new commitments, it’s helpful to explore questions such as these to help you make the decision whether you should say “yes” or not.
- What makes this worth pursuing? What is exciting to you about it? What draws you to this opportunity? What about the opposite— do you have any concerns? What will it cost you if you say “yes”? Or “no”?
- Looking at the time and resources you have available, can you fit it in and do it well? Where will you find the time and energy to do so? If you’re already pretty busy, do you need to drop something else to make room for this new opportunity? What will you stop doing in order to make that room?
- How does this align with your life purpose and mission? What about your values? Does it fit into your priorities? How does this lead you to the life you want?
- What is your motivation to do so? Are you feeling pressure one way or the other? What does your heart tell you?
- Can you wait? What would happen if you didn’t make the decision right away? Would it make a difference? If you say “yes” now, will you regret it a year from now? What about a month from now?
So, what are your “must haves” for life balance? What does life balance look like to you and what commitments do you need to re-evaluate today?
