Awareness Seems to Be the Hardest Word – Tina B's World
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Awareness Seems to Be the Hardest Word

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Are you even aware of what’s happening to the balance in your own life?

There’s a chance you might not even be aware of just how much of a career-personal imbalance your life has. I mean, other people feel this way, so it’s normal..

Right?

woman doing yoga

People may end up falling into one of two extremes:

  • they have been overly attentive at work and it takes their partner to remind them how much they’ve been working
  • they realize they’ve been taking excessive amounts of time off when they realize they have slacked off a bit too much and now their work tasks are piling up

Questions & Possibilities

Ask Yourself These Questions:

  • Are you missing launch deadlines? 
  • Are your personal relationships failing? 
  • Are you getting sick more than normal? 

Now think about these possibilities:

  • You didn’t hit your last income goal and wonder why.
  • You’re positive there’s no way your personal relationships could fail due to your knack for working yourself to the bone.
  • You have slacked on self-care, yet still wonder why your routine isn’t as effective as it always has been.

Let’s talk about this. 

Truth Time: No One Is Coming To Save You

You could have a health situation resulting from long hours and a lack of self-care.

Most don’t even see the imbalance until they hit that proverbial wall.

Your best defense is to pay attention and be aware of what’s happening so you can nip an imbalance in the bud before it consumes you. 

No person in your life is going to come right out and tell you you’re spending too much or not enough time working. It’s highly likely you’ll hear complaints from clients or your loved ones.. but it would be up to you to connect those dots.

You’re the one responsible for what’s happening. It’s on you to fix it. 

Where is your energy going?

Pause for a minute and think of your daily routines.

Write down what you do each day and you just might notice a pattern. 

  • Where your time is being spent?
  • What takes most of your energy?

It’s a good idea to do this periodically, about once a week to start, then go to once a month. If you have a good flow going, you might be able to stretch it to two months.. but don’t forget! You don’t want things to get out of hand by letting everything slide.  

If you don’t have overly critical family and friends, you can ask them if they feel you have been stretched too thin recently. 

I Just Want to Note

I use the phrase “overly critical” because there are people who are just negative 100% of the time.

Tough love can be necessary and even great when used properly, but there is a thin line between constructive criticism and what I like to call “narcissistic praise” (which is pretty much putting you down for any and everything). You could cure cancer and they would remind you there are other uncured diseases out there. 

For instance: I know the one person I can call if I create a digital product and want to be told what’s wrong with it. I will not go to her for life advice because she never has anything nice to say. 

Too Much Free Time?

“Do you ever work?”

Yup, this is possible too.

People might be pointing out how much free time you have. Of course, you might just have systems in place and a team behind you that helps you work less hours.. but if you don’t, it might be a reminder that you’re goofing off too much. 

The key to finding your balance is awareness. 

How quickly and/or efficiently can you ID behavior that you’re spending too much time and energy on something that’s not benefitting you?

Being able to notice when things are starting to slide will help you re-establish your work-life balance. 

Isn’t that what we all want?

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