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Work Life Balance - Is it Even Possible?

Guest post by: Janet Beckers

Article Overview: I had the pleasure of interviewing Helen MacDonald on the principles of living a "Juiced Up" life. One of the many things we discussed was the concept of a balanced life. This is something that many of us aspire to and which Helen says in impossible!

Work Life Balance - Is it Even Possible?

I had the pleasure of interviewing Helen MacDonald on the principles of living a "Juiced Up" life. One of the many things we discussed was the concept of a balanced life. This is something that many of us aspire to and which Helen says in impossible!

Here is Helen's thought on the idea of living a balanced life. This really rings so true for me. Often we think of the balance in terms of time. You know, I spend an equal time here at work, and equal at home. Or I left work early and that means my life is more balanced. This assumes that your life is divided in 2. One is work which is something you just have to do, suffer through almost. The other half is your real life.

Helen shared with us the importance of aligning your life with what is important to you and this includes your work / business. If you truly dislike what you are doing in your working hours then your life cannot be balanced. It's not really a matter of 50% of your time is happy and the other 50% is miserable.

The outcome if your energy and purpose is aligned? Work doesn't feel like work. You slip into "being in the flow". You know that experience when everything just seems so much easier to do, everything works?

Helen shared great techniques for increasing the energy of you and your team (this could be your work team or even your family) and also specific ways to get you and your team working in alignment. For now, I would like to share with you here Helen's 5 principles for Living a Juiced up Life.

How to Live a Juiced Up Life

Access: Make sure you are accessing everything about yourself or your team that is available. Think about if there is something you do not do because you have been told in the past that you are no good at it?

Move: Take action. It may not be the right action but you won't know until you actually do something. As Helen says, you can't steer a parked car.

Choose: Make a choice. Not choosing is a choice. Eventually someone will choose for you but you have no right to complain about the outcome if you chose not to make a decision.

Stretch: We are all tempted to stay within our comfort zones but then things cannot improve if you do not move beyond them. The area between comfort and pain is the stretch zone. Set stretch goals, not pain goals and you can achieve want you want with incremental steps.

BOP (Be On Purpose): Do what you are meant to do. Keep your vision (either personal or team) in view all the time. Helen referred to the super hero we all have inside us. You know, the one you always imagined yourself to be when you were young. The one who can do anything. Keep that inner super hero in focus.

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Article Tags: alignment, helen macdonald, living a balanced life, many things, pleasure, work business



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