Balancing Out Life

Do you ever feel like you are not doing enough in life and feeling overwhelmed at the same time? Sometimes when you are focused on staying on track and bettering yourself, you tend to want to move fast in life which can make you feel trapped.

For instance, to balance out life, you must start by setting a mini-goal, not one that may take a while to reach, but one that leads to the path of the goal. Setting goals may seem boring and unnecessary when really it trains your mind on what your focus should be. According to Leslie Riopel, a professional psychologist at Northwood University, “Setting goals helps trigger new behaviors, helps guide your focus, and helps you sustain that momentum in life.” Setting a goal is almost like mapping out your life. You get to reach different checkpoints each time you complete a goal. A mini-goal can be very small, short-term, but achievable. For example, let’s say you had a business. The goal is to get more clientele by the end of the summer, and you could promote yourself by doing deals and having brand ambassadors promote you as well. Once you get the clientele, you will return to regular pricing. That is a goal that simple and achievable. People often think setting a goal means it must be done immediately, which is not the case. Setting a goal simply means setting a time frame in which you can accomplish what needs to be done.   

However, people get busy with things such as work, school, and personal life, making life a little harder to balance out. As for myself, I work at a nursing home as a part-time certified nursing assistant while attending college and raising a 2-year-old. I also make time for my weekly workouts, which occur Monday through Friday. Sometimes, I get frustrated and overwhelmed and ask myself, am I ready for this, or is this too much for a 19-year-old to handle? Then I remember that these are the goals I set for myself to reach my goal that will later help me balance out my life. Balancing is not just physical. It is also a mental process. If you become weak and give up, your actions will be a poor response. In the book Woman Evolve, journalist Jarrett Bellini states, “being frail, ignorant, and vulnerable to mental, emotional and spiritual traps that eventually alter our minds and then our actions.” Your mental status is a part of what keeps you balanced and motivated if your mind isn’t in the right place, everything else behind it could also fall. It is okay to get overwhelmed and frustrated. But do not allow that to get you off track in your life. To keep me on schedule, I work Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and every other weekend 6:30 am-2:30 pm, attend school Tuesday and Thursday, and finally work out Monday through Friday, leaving me with the weekend to rest and have personal time. I enjoy my new schedule simply because it is well organized and relieves some pressure from me.  

There are many ways to help keep yourself balanced out. For example, getting a planner or calendar is an effective way of keeping your busy life on a schedule. One major key to life balance is time management. Pete Turco informs readers, “time management tips and tools are only effective to the extent they are used. Knowing what to do is not enough. you need to master the how-to of good time management techniques.” You will most likely get stuff done if you plan instead of waiting until the last minute. In conclusion, It is important to plan out your week ahead of time to balance a busy schedule.