It’s easy to get overwhelmed with life. Just think about it, you have your work where you have to be perfect all the time, you have your friends and family who you want to spend time with, you have your financial dreams that you need to plan for and somehow figure out how to pay for, you have or want to have a child or children, you have to manage your home life by cleaning, cooking, taking out the garbage, paying bills, doing laundry, going to the grocery, mowing and landscaping, finishing your project list of things that need fixed around your home, staying up to date on the news and online via social media, you want to take care of yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, you want to purchase a new home or a new car, you want to grow and expand your knowledge by furthering your education, you want to take that long awaited vacation, you want to create and start accomplishing your bucket list, you want to be liked by others, you secretly want to win the lottery and take a permanent vacation, or you just want one day off just to lay around your home and rest, not to be interrupted by anything or anyone, just to name a few things…. Granted, this is a list I created from my white, male, privileged point of view, others will be different either partially or completely. The point is, everyone in the world today has a list of their own. So how do you find balance in your life?
So how do you even begin to get started on figuring out how to tackle such a long and never-ending list? The level of importance for any given area of your life, as well as when and how something will be done, is going to be different for everyone depending on their circumstances and preferences. There’s no “1 size fits all” approach when it comes to figuring out life and how to navigate it day by day. Sure, there are certain behaviors that have helped individuals improve or maintain certain parts of their life, but what works for one person may not work for the next.
Everyone has to have a starting point, something to help them with organizing all the different parts of their life and figuring out what’s most important to them. For example, using the wheel of life, you prioritize the different parts of your life and how happy you are with them, on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the best. Once you have done this you can see what areas you are happiest with and that you likely want to stay the same, along with those that you are not happy with and want to change.
Years ago I started meditating every day first thing in the morning. With this meditation, most importantly, it allowed me to set aside time just for me, time where I could just be in the moment and not think about anything else but breathing in and breathing out. It’s also allowed me time to reflect on what I’m thankful for, individuals/groups who are in a time of need, things that have happened, how things are going, and how I can tackle something differently and/or layout and prioritize my to-do list for the day or the coming week. (Having a pen and paper nearby has also been very helpful during this practice)
Every day I have tried to either maintain or do better than before. Over the years I have come to think about this time as a time when I am purposefully allowing myself time to care for myself physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. This is why I absolutely LOVE the wheel of life from yesterday’s post, because it reinforces that which I have already learned but it also breaks each of these four main areas up into more specific areas of an individual’s life that you can focus on like family, community, work/career, financial well-being, etc.
(As you are establishing your own goals, you can use the SMART method outlined below!)
If you are interested in learning more or if you would like to further discuss your personal journey of transformation, please share your contact information via the following form and I will be in touch! https://forms.gle/uHgf1xzRCaWg7Dna7
Thank you, Dominique James 3DTransformationalLifeCoaching@gmail.com (Transformation is possible through deliberate, daily, development)
