Teetering down the road of life

In the coaching world you hear a lot about attaining that thing we call “balance.”

In my classes and work I do with clients we talk a lot about how to achieve a level of balance between our home life and our work.

Many think that achieving balance and harmony is static.

That we achieve “balance” and everything rolls along smoothly from there on.

But if you’ve ever ridden a bicycle, you know that you are constantly in motion to keep yourself upright — in balance.

Same thing goes if you were to jump up on a narrow rail. You’d be moving your arms and your body, constantly in motion, to maintain your balance as you walked along.

Eskil Rønningsbakken is a Norwegian who is known as the world’s best balance artist. He does dangerous and amazing balancing demonstrations and he says this:

“Balance is very dynamic. The moment I stand still when I’m balancing, I fall. Balance is about constant motion towards finding your path.”

Here’s what I know to be true about being in business for yourself and trying to find balance between your work and your home life — or the life you have when you are not working…

There are times when family comes first, and times when business comes first.

Sometimes you will be spending a lot of time working. Especially during those times when you are creating something new, or are launching a program or a product. You are putting in lots of extra time and perhaps feeding your family frozen dinners.

Other times you’ll be focusing more on your family, like when I go to Florida to be with my mom and dad and to help give my sisters some relief from the round the clock care they provide my folks.

When I’m there, my focus is on them, and the work stuff just has to take a back seat.

Do I feel out of balance? Sometimes. But I know the pendulum will always swing back one way or another, day by day, week by week.

Janine Finney, co-author of The Flip-Flop CEO, says it best:

“To me, balance is a feeling rather than a certain allocation of time. It’s about being content with the choices I’ve made about how I’ve spent my time at the end of the day, each month, and each year. It’s living without the nagging guilt and regret many [people] feel when they go to bed at night, wishing they could have accomplished more.”

Whenever you have the freedom to choose where you need to be at any given time, and are able to do your work in the hours available around your most important priorities at the moment, that’s extremely empowering.

And it is THAT freedom that I love so much about being my own boss.

Being in business means freedom for me.

What does it mean for you?

Have a great weekend.

And remember, in the immortal words of Agatha Christie, “The secret to getting ahead is in getting started.”

Wishing you the best for your success,
With grace and joy, and balance,

Marty “Mr. Balanced” Marsh

P. S. Anytime you want to talk about your business or your life, I set aside time each week to meet with you in my So-Selling, No-Kidding Zone. In other words, we just talk without any worry about any high-pressure selling going on. It’s true. Ask anyone who’s had time with me. Schedule some Time With Marty for yourself.

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