As a coach, I get a lot of inquiries from women who are feeling too busy, overwhelmed, and like they are pulled in way too many directions to be doing anything very well. Finding balance in your life can be complicated. You may feel like your life is run by a lot of “shoulds;” including things you feel your should be doing, and often, you may have a whole list of expectations that have been placed on you by other people, too.
The end result is not feeling like there’s enough time in the day, and that your to do list just keeps getting longer and longer.
I created this course with you in mind; for those of you who feel like you “do it all” and still don’t get it all done. The focus is taking a look at what you really have to do. Is it all necessary? If it’s not necessary is it serving you in one way or another? I want you to take back your to do list and feel empowered, knowing that everything on there is there for a reason – and that you decided to put it there.
This course came out of the work I did at a past retreat. Participants spent a whole day going through exercises that helped them narrow down a list of what’s most important to them. In turn, that list got reworked in a couple of different ways, allowing each person to identify the things they want to keep in their life, and ultimately helped them to define the top things for them to keep doing. It’s a bit like doing a Kon Marie cleanse of the things you’ve committed to doing in your life, and assessing each one.
Along the way, we talked about things we might let go of, or say no to. Saying “no” to things is an important step in finding and maintaining balance.
I’ll say upfront that this is not “easy” work. It takes making time for reflection, for digging deep, and for getting honest about what YOU want for your life, and what you want and need to keep in your life. At the same time, though, it’s super rewarding because it lets you release what is not working for you, and keep what is meaningful and needed.
What you’ll get from signing up:
– an email once a week for six weeks
– six worksheets for you to download and keep that I created just for this course
– opportunities to join in a larger community conversation as you go
– prompts to journal and brainstorm on your own
Here’s a peek at why my own first brain dump looked like the day of the retreat. I wrote this list out in front of our participants as an example of everything that was stuck in my brain that day, on my never-ending mental to-do list. It’s not fancy, and I didn’t use a filter on what I put on the list. As it hit my brain, I wrote stuff down. And, this is where you’ll start, with a brain dump of ALL the things are you’re balancing.
An update: As a side note, I’ve already done the thank you notes, and gotten my windshield wipers changed. I’m started writing and blogging more. Even just getting the first step done offered me more brain space and the ability to take a look at a few of the things that I need to tackle.
“Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.”
(Oh, and P.S. “Nose” is the name of our fish. Just in case that line made you do a double- take. Zoom named him.)
Comments
35 responses to “Finding Balance in Your Life: A Free Course”
Love this Paula! Just signed up for the emails. I look forward to reading the emails on my train ride to work in the morning, and then maybe again on the way home to remind myself to find balance. I also now want a white board!
Yay Jenna, I’m so glad you’re going to go through the course. Please let me know what you think of it. I love working with white boards … I have a little one at my work desk, but that bigger one is at the retreat center. 🙂
I was going to ask about Nose/Fish!
And accidentally hit subscribe twice–the interwebs are still hard for me 🙂
LOL, Zoom named him and well, it’s kind of a funny name for fish. Here’s why he was on the list … we got Z a pet to help him learn to take care of things. Of course, the fish is no longer new and no longer really interesting so it falls to Mom (me) to clean him and remember to feed him. He’s something to balance.
Email me if you have any questions about the course 🙂
I am one of the few people that has it all figured out. It took me a long time, but I have a time and place for everything in my life.
LOL, nose/fish did catch my eye. I was thinking a new term for allergies??? I’m signing up.
I am currently sitting in jury duty as I read this. I am 100% required to be here, punishable by fines and jail time and everything – and I still feel guilty. Like I should be doing something else. What is wrong with this picture?!
I feel like that all the time, that there is never enough time in the day and it can be a struggle sometimes! I might take a look at the course as well and see how it goes!
Looks like an amazing course and one that can really help guide in the balancing process! I just try to take things little by little.. and see how it goes! 🙂
Karen | GlamKaren.com
I might be interested in this course…..I always feel like I am being pulled in all directions, and for someone who deals with OCD and anxiety that makes it pretty tough. Will listen to one of your podcasts tonight. Bookmarking this page.
I might be interested this as well. I struggle with anxiety and suffer from panic attacks. It may be something useful to use.
Balance – so difficult to achieve! I feel like something else is always pulling for my attention homeschooling/being a mama/blogging & vlogging/me time etc. I will have to check this out!
what a great course. I love the topic about saying “no” to things. I have a hard time saying no to my own expectations.
Sounds like a great course! It is important to really take stock in your life and assess what is most important.
I’m one of those who have a difficult time achieving balance so this course would be for me. While I try and make time for the things/people that are important to me, sometimes life gets in the way.
Finding balance seems simple but it really isnt. I know if there are things I have going on or are just more interested in at any point can grab my attention more and then I lose track of other things so finding a happy medium is a must.
I’m saving this one for when I get some spare time in the work schedule. Definitely, something I’m interested in (pinned it for later). I’m glad you started working on the things that matter to you. As the quote says, never get so busy making a living that you forget to live life.
Balance is always a hard thing. We often teeter toward one way or another. A happy medium is the goal.
Looks like a good course, I fell like I have everything planned out thanks to my planner which keeps in sane. everything doesn’t always come out how you plan it but if its pretty close I am ok with it 🙂
Leslie xoxo
This sounds like a course that I could benefit from, especially since I struggle finding balance from time to time. Thanks for the heads up!
I guess you could say this is like decluttering your brain. If you get all these things done that you need to, you can concentrate on getting the newer things on your list done!
Love brain dumps! I do them on my phone with the “awesome note” app. Then move them around to weekly/daily to-do list.
Love this, and I think everyone should be doing this. It’s easy to get consumed with the busyness of life that we forget to focus on what’s truly important.
Sounds like a beneficial course for anyone, really! I think it would help so many people for sure, especially with how busy life is these days.
This sounds wonderful. I have signed up and the timing is perfect. I will be off from work for summer break and will have the time to commit to the course.
I am actually at the point where I feel like I have better balance than I have in a long time. It took letting people in to help more though.
Sounds like a great program. I know many of us run ourselves so busy to the ground to the point of near burn out and this sounds like a great initiative to help people harmonize their lives better.
Looks like I’m back for more! I really enjoyed this exercise a little over a year ago and then I saw it today on your blog and was like, you know, I’ll sign up again. haha. thanks Paula. Please send me more!
What a great resource. I feel pretty good about my ability to put non-essentials on the back burner when I need to. My motto is, “you can do anything, but you can’t do everything.” ?
This is great! I will sign up 🙂 Looking forward to the weekly tips and worksheets 🙂
When I start feeling that I’m working around the clock, but still don’t get everything done, I sit down and re-evaluate my life. I make a list of everything on my plate and see what I can let go. Oftentimes I find that there is a more efficient way to do things, which I didn’t notice being too busy running around in circles.
This is something powerful! i just had a conversation with a peer about how we are balancing or not balancing. It’s very hard sometimes. I love what you said at the end “Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.” Love it
This is so interesting. I am doing my best to balance my life, and I try to remind myself every day, me first. Then I can take care of or help everyone else. Balancing life is never an easy task. Thank you for sharing.
Great – I can’t wait to hear what you think, Kayla 🙂
Hi Jenna! it’s a good one to review now and again. 🙂