Beyond The Stress Of Success - 3 Easy Life Balance Practices

Genuine enthusiasm...a real feeling of accomplishment...a sense of satisfaction and fun. That's what happens when you playfully practice life balance.

How can you do that? Easy...play with 3 simple practices to see how they work for you. Remember this is practice, not perfection! So just do more of what works and less of what doesn't. That way you effortlessly tweak these 3 Life Balance Practices until they work well for you. Then continue to practice, practice, practice...and enjoy the balance they add to your life and work.

Ease Back into Balance

Pause To Refresh YOU
Think Thriving Thoughts
Re-charge in Energizing Environments

PAUSE TO REFRESH YOU
Given the relentless demands of our nonstop 24/7 lifestyles, it is easy to forget we are human beings - not human doings. Performance experts agree. Constant doing without real downtime impairs our ability to perform at our best. It takes us out of balance in our work and lives.

Need proven and manageable ways to incorporate regular pause-to-refresh intervals in your work day? Try these:

Pause every hour and a half for 3-5 minutes to consciously recover from the physical, mental and emotional pressures of work.
Get up from your desk for a few minutes.

Take several deep breaths.

Stretch.

Take a short walk around the office or inside the building.
Leave the building for 5 minutes to breath some fresh air. While outside, gaze childlike at the sky or look at a tree or a plant. Staring off into space without any particular focus gives the brain a few minutes of rest and relaxes the mind.
Research indicates that winners instinctively and consciously take regular intervals of time, no matter how short, to de-stress and refocus when they are engaged in intense competition or pressure-cooker assignments. So if you cannot control the demands of your work, control the moments you take to intentionally pause and restore your energy.

THINK THRIVING THOUGHTS
Negative thinking is unproductive. It burns up considerable bandwidth, slows forward momentum, and drains energy in the process. So why not focus on positive outcomes with optimistic realism?

Successful people spend time thinking thriving thoughts. You can too!

Envision what your success on a big incredibly challenging project will look like when key milestones are reached. Spend several moments feeling the sweet satisfaction of your success.
For 5 minutes each morning think thriving thoughts on the way to work. This shift in thinking can change your behavior and entire day for the better.

Notice how much better you feel. The more you practice having and acting on thriving thoughts, the more you will find yourself getting the results you want.
RE-CHARGE IN ENERGIZING ENVIRONMENTS
The right environments support you in being your professional and personal best. So it is important to know what environment - people, places, and activities - are right for you.

Notice who and what gives you energy.

Pay attention to who and what drains your energy.

Minimize your exposure to people, places and activities that drain your energy.

Optimize your exposure to people, places and activities that give you energy.

Give yourself permission to re-charge in energizing environments. Spend time in natural environments where you feel calm, relaxed and grounded. Schedule time to be where energy is actively available to you.

Walking in a pine forest, standing near a waterfall, or watching ocean waves as you drag your feet lazily through the sand clears your mind, refreshes your body, and lifts your spirit.
Find time to be with friends, family members, co-workers and colleagues who are fun.

Engage in silly fun activities that re-balance you - like laughing out loud at hilarious movies, playing with your children or pet, or learning to fly a kite.
In energizing environments we slip back into our center, reconnect with our natural internal rhythms, and experience the ease of being in balance.

Let me know how these 3 Life Balance Practices work for you.

Pause to Refresh YOU
Think Thriving Thoughts
Re-charge in Energizing Environments

Playfully practice them and notice how easy it is for you to slip back into balance a little more each day.