You may also be interested in Balancing Work & Everything Else, Work-Life Balance Resources and Work-Life Balance Stories.

If you are a balance neophyte, skeptic, or drop-out, renew your reality. Join the majority of people—a full 80 percent according to The Brain Reserve research firm—who are on the balance journey. Start your journey here by understanding balance, putting key strategies to work, reading success stories and checking out resources for the road.

Women - The Balance Catalysts
The balanced living movement is primarily attributable to forward-thinking women who were dissatisfied with the status quo, identified multiple roles, set high standards and clear boundaries, redefined their priorities and pushed the envelope, demanding a high quality life. Some women consider balance the next generation of the women’s movement. Today, balance also receives tremendous attention and action from men. Balance is a common family value and organizational concern.

Balanced living, an outgrowth of the voluntary simplicity movement, was recognized as an influential cultural movement in the early 1980s. Balance generally focuses on leading a values-based life, while simplicity focuses on sustainable consumption, or living with less. Some still consider balance and simplicity inseparable, but their association depends on your values and focus. Understanding early thinking about this movement can help you prepare to create your own balance.

Early Thinking - The Balance Burnout
Since the early 1980s the concept of balanced living has stimulated debate about its own feasibility. Early definitions of balance unrealistically required people to identify roles and priorities and then to 1) allocate equal time to each, or 2) spend the majority of time with their top priority, with subsequent priorities consuming depreciating amounts of time. These ideas reduced balance to time management and equity planning, creating unrealistic expectations of achieving a stress-free, peaceful life.

Real Balance
Today, with a more mature understanding, balance is seen as: "consciously creating a life that reflects your personal values" (Balanced Living Newsletter, 1995).

This definition encourages you to assess and consider all aspects of your life, and to treat balance as "a conscious, continuous process that repeatedly provides opportunities to re-evaluate and renew." (Balanced Living Newsletter)

The key is to understand that your interpretation of balance is completely dependent on your values, and the life you envision building. When you understand what balance really is you can begin planning for balance by: 1) identifying your values, 2) assessing the balance in your life, and 3) considering the benefits at work and home.

Values identification leads to values-based living. The idea is to identify what is most important to you. The values you describe then become your compass for living, allowing you to calibrate your decisions against your priorities.

The big balance benefits are: clarity of life purpose and path, improved decision making, increased goal setting and achievement, increased coping and stress management skills, and an overall sense of peace and sustainability. Working toward balance is a continuous journey requiring constant renewal and practical strategies to achieve these rewards.

Strategy 1: Self-Assess & Reflect
The first success strategy is the ability to assess 1) yourself and your life, 2) your purpose and priorities, and 3) your decisions and actions. Assessment and reflection allow you to define a balanced life that is uniquely yours.

Strategy 2: Consciously Identify Purpose & Path
Consciously identifying purpose and path is central to balance, and a natural outcome after assessment and reflection. Consciousness requires intentionality and your commitment to act. Creating purpose and path from your values gives you the star to shoot for and the road map to follow. For example, when I lose my focus on sustainability and simplicity in my life, I soon find myself in chaos by over-committing, or over-spending. Consciously orienting my life to my purpose, and the path I follow to achieve it, allows me to continue the journey and reach my goals.

Step 3: Set Goals, Boundaries, & Accountabilities
The third strategy is setting goals and boundaries with strict and supportive accountability. Goals and boundaries create focus in the day-to-day challenges and chaos. They are firm, defining acceptable and unacceptable actions and pursuits. Accountabilities are systems or people that hold your feet to the fire. The real power in accountability is the visibility of your goals or boundaries to others.

This year, one of my goals is to complete a famous road race with my family. The boundary requirement is weekly training. The accountability strategies are to verbally state my goal to my family, register for the race, and line up a training partner. With all these factors in place it’s pretty hard to bale out. Think of goals and boundaries you can set that are important to your balance reality.

Strategy Four: Acknowledge Balance Benefits & Compromises
The fourth strategy is acknowledging the benefits and compromises of balance. As with any lifestyle, balance is not a panacea. Your visions and realities for balance will probably require compromise. For example, like many women seeking balance, I have chosen to eliminate activities from my life that I enjoy to make room for those I am passionate about. I am willing to give up time with my family one or two evenings a week to enjoy my friends, serve my community, or enjoy my spiritual group. When my children were babies, I compromised some of my needs to meet theirs. Now that they're teenagers, I compromise for a different reason - to keep an eye on them. These are the realities of compromise. Remember, balance doesn’t require equity; it requires values-based living.

Along with conscious compromise, it is important to acknowledge the benefits of balance. Possible benefits include more time, less stress, more challenging work, better relationships, greater peace, or improved quality of life. The list is endless. In her book, Simple Abundance, Sarah Ban Breathnach suggests keeping a "gratitude journal." Regardless of how you do it, reflecting on the benefits of balance is key to acknowledging its rewards - and without acknowledgment the journey can feel unending.

Strategy Five: Persevere & Recalibrate on the Journey
This strategy is critical. Workshop participants often speculate that persevering and recalibrating will be the toughest part of balance. Instead, many discover that the benefits of balance motivate them to continue and recalibrate with renewed energy. This is good news for two reasons.

First, balance is a journey with neither a destination nor an arrival point. Instead there is a flow. Having this view from the beginning expands your perspective from "achieving balance" to "living balance" - an important distinction.

Second, balance is dramatically impacted by life stages. Think of times in your life when a priority dominated your schedule, your thinking, your feelings - your life. Common examples are being a student, early romances and marriage, starting a family, starting a new job or launching a business, moving to a new home/city, caring for a sick loved one, grieving a loss, or healing your body.

During these times it is natural for these needs to dominate your life. When the scale tips dramatically toward one priority it doesn’t mean you are out of balance. In fact, if meeting one of these needs is congruent with your purpose and path, and you consciously choose to dedicate your time, then you are actually exercising the discipline required to sustain long-term balance. So give your new business or your new baby intense focus if required. That is part of the sustaining journey of balance.

And finally,
With a clear understanding of balance, of your values and vision, and of these beginning strategies, you are ready to start your journey. With the majority of people seeking balance in some way, the resources are limitless. So, focus on the journey, the actions, and the benefits and live your balance reality.

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You might also be interested in Negotiating Work/Family Issues by Kolb, Williams, and Frohlinger.

Decide if you need coaching by reading: Is Coaching for Me?

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Brenda Wilkins,
President, Big Sky Learning Institute ~ Leadership & Learning, has studied, written, and conducted workshops and retreats about balance since 1992. You may reach her at bmwilkins@earthlink.net.