Is your life balanced? Live a balanced life is critical for the well-being of your children.
I learned it the hard way. As a single parent, I am alone to do everything for my little family , from laundry to financial planning, everything is on me. For sure, I have a lot in my plate and so do all my single parents mates as well, but for our kids there are no excuses, the only thing they see is what is missing : your balance, your happiness , your well-being.
I learned it the hard way when my son started to ask me why he was always the last one to be picked up at school; one day I surprised him by coming early to pick him and the joy that I saw was beyond my expectations, everybody there had to see his mother , he was jumping and smiling and was so happy for such a small thing that I realized I needed to change in order to see that smile every time. No toy or game had ever had this effect on him! I was focusing too much on my career, working hard to provide the best to him but at the same time working overtime, neglecting my social life, my health…being so busy making a living that I was forgetting to make a life.
All the areas of your life are equally important, and it is critical to balance them all to be able to live the fullest as your attitude towards life influences your children. Your well-being (or the lack of) has repercussions on the well-being of your kids so if you do not do that for you, at least do that for them: strive to create a successful balanced life.
Here are the 4 steps you must implement to succeed into living a balanced life:
- Step 1. Visualize: Know where you want to be? What are your targets?
All areas of your life are equally important: personal, professional, social, spiritual. (Learn more about areas of life here) Think of what will make you happy for each area, where you want to be. Dream up and dream big, do not limit yourself, at least dreaming is free 😊 (the one thing in this world!!). How would you achieve your dreams if you do not know them, if you cannot visualize them? It is lie going somewhere without knowing the exact location, even with a GPS , you will get lost… the first step to succeed is to have a clear vision of what you want.
My ultimate target for my professional life currently is to be financially independent and no longer have to work for anyone in five years. That will give me more time to take care of my family. Big dream, right? But for sure it will remain a dream if I do not take any action to make it happen. That’s why Step 2 is critical: Plan.
- Step 2. Plan: How to achieve your targets? What do you need to make it happen?
Planning puts your dreams into context and turns them into concrete actions items. At least, if you are not there yet, you know what you need to get there and achieve your dreams. It is a good practice to plan for short-term, mid-term and long-term all together as being realistic is also important to keep you motivated. Breakdown your ultimate goal into short term goals, mid-term goals and long-term goals because as Van Gogh said once: “Great things are not done by impulse but by a series of small things brought together”. Once you have the goals, it is easier to identify the actions you need to reach your targets, one step at a time.
I cannot quit my job today, I cannot be financially independent tomorrow neither but I can reduce my debt within 1 year( short-term goal), reach the debt free status within 2 years(mid-term goal), have enough cashflow to invest massively and be financially independent within 5 years(long-term goal).It is doable and I started planning. I now have a detailed career plan for the next 5 years, a 3-year budget plan and a monthly budget plan that took me hours to develop.
Plans are essential, but they will remain plans if you do not implement them… and this bring us to Step 3: Implement.
- Step 3. Implement: Act. Do what you planned. Bring your plan to life.
This step is all about bringing your plan to life by implementing the actions you have identified. The plan sets out the actions you need to reach your targets and now, all you have to do is to put that plan into practice and carry out the actions identified. That’s it, that’s all. Just act. Don’t wait. In fact once you have a plan it makes it easier to just follow it as you already know what you need to do.
When I started budgeting, my first goal was to reduce my credit card bills to zero in two years, I was so tired of paying those crazy interests!!!! I knew exactly the expenses I had to cut off to reduce that debt and I developed a plan. Having a clear plan allowed me to resist the temptations to spend unwisely. I have not bought a pair of shoes in months (sad…) but it is worth it: only one in three cards left to get down to zero. However, your plans will not always go as smoothly as you wish, I planned my credit card bill reduction for 2 years but it did not happened, it will take one more year to happen. That is why Step 4 is critical: Track.
- Step 4. Track: Review your progress. Know where you are at.
You are implementing your plan: great! But are you achieving the intended results? Are you moving towards your goals? It is important to track your progress against your goals to make sure you are on the right track.
Keeping track of your plan will help you measure your success. It is so motivating to see that you have moved, even if it is a “baby step”, at least you are moving. No plan is perfect and tracking your progress will allow you to revise your plan and improve it for better results. By tracking your progress, not only you will keep your motivation high but you will also have the opportunity to improve your plan. Pride and motivation make you happy and eager to reach the targets… Isn’t it?
Of course my debt reduction did not take 2 years as I planned (one more year to go), but I am proud of me, proud of all the way accomplished. I did not reach my target on time but I am on the right track and my efforts have already started to pay off: I was able to buy a house despite a not so good credit! But this is another story that I will save for a future blog post.
Implement these 4 steps to succeed in creating that balanced life that you need. It is important for you. It is important for your children.
Don’t know where to start? Here is a very simple tool that will help you build your plan for a balanced life. The tool includes a strategic plan form and an implementation plan form and uses the VISUALIZE-PLAN-IMPLEMENT-TRACK method : https://sparentinginstyle.com/downloads/strategic-plan-e…-a-balanced-life/
We try to give all the best to our kids, buying all kind of stuff, games, toys, subscriptions, etc. but the best gift we could give them is to be happy ourselves and it starts by having a balanced life. Single parents especially are particularly concerned as they do not have enough time, they are alone to take care of every aspect of the life of their family and for sure they need to do all what it takes to have a balanced life.
Share with us in the comments what are your strategies to get to a balanced life. Did you follow the 4 steps listed above?
Contact us at coaching@sparentinginstyle.com if you need coaching on working on balancing your life or just want to share your personal experience.
Sparentinginstyle is proud to be among the TOP 50 Canadian Parenting blogs by Feedspot on the web. Keep following us to get the best Life, Love, Style and smart parentin
