Part 5 of 5 on Balance, Balance, Balance!

We've finally come to our last part of this 5 Part Series on Balance.  It's sort of sad, huh?  :  )  I'll have to think of a 5 Part Series on something else to share.  We would have been done with this series days sooner, but you know what?  Life happens and there are some days when the last thing I want to do is write a blog.  

There I said it.  That was pretty easy, right?  Which leads me to the last tip on Balance:

Be honest with yourself and with others.

No, I mean REALLY be honest.  Take off that mask you're wearing that tells others "I am great!" "I'm so happy!" "My life is perfect!" "I can do it all, I can have kids AND a career!" "My marriage is fantastic, I have the BEST husband EVER!"  Shut up, because while we may be great at a few things, there are things that we flat out SUCK at, we're not ALWAYS happy, our lives AREN'T perfect, we can't do it all and do it all well, sometimes MARRIAGE STINKS, and sometimes HUSBAND'S SUCK!  How's that for honesty?

This topic has been hitting me hard lately.  I've heard sermons on it, read blogs about it, attended a seminar last week on it.  Now more than ever is the time to be 100%, walls down, masks off, completely and utterly honest with ourselves and with others.  Do you know that it is a FACT that people prefer honesty even when it means not hearing exactly what they want to hear?  And that honesty can actually improve your health?  Its true.

Of course, there is always a gentle way to say about everything while being honest and not hurting anyone's feelings or cutting people down.  Yet, the main person honesty is important to most is to ourselves.  When we're honest with ourselves, we are loving ourselves, respecting ourselves for who we are-who we've become and what we are becoming.  Is there something you're not being completely honest with yourself about?  Take a moment and really think about it.  Is there?  How does that area of your life make you feel?

When I'm honest with myself and with others, I usually see things clearly.  I can easily find solutions to problems.  

So that's it.  There's no GRAND FINALE to the end of this 5 Part Series on Balance.  Here is a summary, though, on the 5 Tips I've shared over the last several days:

1. Be okay when things fall through the cracks.  We're human.  Don't beat yourself up over it.
2. Take a nap!  Know your body and give it some much needed rest, for cryn' out loud!  Even if it means sleeping in your car. :  )
3. TIME BLOCK!  Time block everything.  This might be one of the most popular, yet under-used tips out there.  IT WORKS!
4. Pray, Meditate, and Journal.  Let your feelings out.  Pray about issues you're having, meditate to clear your head of the nonsense, and keep an online and/or private journal to let your feelings out (instead of posting passive-aggressive status updates on Facebook, perhaps!) 
5. Be honest.  With yourself first, then with others.

I hope you've enjoyed my series.  Come back often for other fun and informative topics.  Contact me for questions, and leave comments if your are so inclined.  Only HONEST ones, though!

    

Part 4 of 5: Series on Balance, Balance, Balance!

Let's get one thing straight: I am FAR from perfect.  I'm no "Super Mom" or someone who effortlessly juggles it all.  TRUST me!  You could even ask some of my close friends and family members...they will probably tell you  I'm a complete scatter brain, I have a horrible memory, and I'm a weirdo half the time.  

So when I'm writing on Balance, its partly b/c I KNOW (at least I hope!) there are others of you out there who feel stretched to the max at times and wonder how you will get through the day let alone the weeks, months, or years.  I want to help you...and I also want to help myself.  I learn best when I write things or go over and over and over them 100's of times!  This isn't my first rodeo on Balance and I'm positive it won't be my last.  We all have to continually remind ourselves to balance, breathe, relax, and enjoy life.  This is just one reminder among many for myself and for you, too.  I hope you get at least one nugget from this series.

So...#4.  

Are you ready for this?    

Meditate, pray, and journal.  Okay, that's it.  Thanks for reading.  Ha!  You wish it were that simple, right?

Meditation is described in Wikipedia as:

a practice in which an individual trains the mind and/or induces a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit, although it can be argued that meditation is a goal in and of itself.

You see that last part?  ..."a goal in and of itself."  The Mayo Clinic even says meditation is a stress reliever.  When we reduce stress in our lives, so much other stuff falls into place.  

Take running late, for instance.  Over the last year (and yes, its taken me a year and even now I'm still working on it), I have been focusing on not over booking myself b/c I have a horrible habit of over booking myself, running late, speeding, getting speeding tickets, having the rest of my day run late, being flustered, having crazy road rage, and screaming at everything and everyone in my path.  Imagine the stress relief I've found in restricting my schedule to a few key appointments with plenty of drive time in between appointments and even arriving early sometimes!

Those times when I'm running early?  That's when I meditate!  It only takes 2 minutes to STOP EVERYTHING, close your eyes, focus on breathing, and clear your head of the madness. Someone really smart taught me we have to clear the clutter to make room for the new blessings in our lives.  Meditation clears the mental clutter.

Praying is very similar to meditation.  Its a personal thing, and depending on a person's spirituality, prayer may mean something different.  Whatever or whoever your Source is, your Inner Voice, your Spirit, Conscious or whatever else It may be called...that's who we pray to.  I pray to the Lord, each day to be in control of my thoughts, feelings, words, and actions.  It is a minute by minute thing and there is no doubt I need Him to be in control of my life b/c I certainly am not!  

Journaling is similar to writing a blog.  Blogging is a web log of whatever someone wants to write about.  A journal may be something a little more personal.  I find that when I journal, I've figured at least one thing out-I've self discovered, that is.  Its a wonderful thing and a safe place to turn to for an outlet. This is the online journal I use and I love it!

Remember: Meditate, Pray, and Journal!  You're on your way!

   

Guest Blogger, Lorraine Ball, on TAKING A BREAK!

My Guest Blogger today is Lorraine Ball.  Lorraine usually focuses her blogs on business development and marketing, since that's her specialty.  I was struct when I ready her blog post below about taking vacations b/c it goes right along with my 5 Part Series on Balance.  Thank you, Lorraine, for the reminder to TAKE A BREAK!  

I love going on vacation. I love going new places and seeing new things. But in the early years of Roundpeg, I let the fear of being away from the business keep me from going away for more then a few days at a time.

Skipping vacations is a a common mistake business owners make. What is the point of running your own business if it doesn’t give you the freedom to enjoy your life along the way?

You need to take a vacation.  Why?  Well besides the obvious benefits of rest and relaxation, here is a list of my top reasons to take a vacation:

1)   Clear your head – Bogged down with the day-to-day of running a business, you don’t have time to step back and think of the big picture. A long plane flight gives you a chance to unplug and think about your business from a distance.

2)   Inspiration – The brain works in mysterious ways when you let it. Seeing something completely unrelated to your business, a beautiful painting or amazing architecture, will sometimes start of stream of consciousness that allows you to come up with something out of the box.

3)  Grow your team -  When you are in the office it is easy for your team to bring every problem and decision to you. When you are not there, talented professionals will step up and handle things. This works well if you have given them guidelines before you left, and told them you would back their decision

4)  Get feedback – as your team handles your job, they often see things you have just accepted. Returning from a vacation is a great time to talk about systems and processes.

So after eight years, I started taking vacations. Of course technology has made it easy to stay on touch. With my iPad, I can forward emails that have to get handled right away, or chat with my team via Skype form anywhere in the world. The trick is to plan quick check-ins and then get back to your vacation

I wrote this post as I was resting my feet after a long day of touring. I found a strong WiFi signal in a street corner cafe in Madrid. I wrote as I  enjoyed the view and a great cup of cafe con leche, both of which I will miss when I return home. But only for a little while, until it’s time to take my next vacation.

If you need help with Marketing, Lorraine is your girl!  Call today at 317.569.1396

Part 3 of 5 on Balance: To Get Balance, Get a PAPER Calendar and TIME BLOCK!

I don't typically answer my cell phone.  I don't.  I'm a Realtor and I'm telling you this.  You must think I'm crazy, right?  Here's the thing...if I answered my phone every time it rang, I would get nothing done but putting out fires all day, every day.  You would agree that's not what life is all about, right?

There are a few other reasons I don't answer my phone most of the time:

1. there may be screaming kids in the background and I'm protecting the caller on the other end of my phone from the horror of the sound of a screaming kid on the other end of the phone line

2. I may be with clients, at church, in a meeting, sleeping (see Part 2 of 5 on Napping), using the restroom, eating, showering, or just simply TAKING A BREAK and I choose not to let the telephone interrupt any of those things.  I'm sure I could name a few more, but how many of you can say you've taken a call during at least one of the activities I mentioned above???  There is nothing I hate worse than when someone is in the middle of a meeting and first their obnoxious ring interrupts the entire meeting THEN they choose to take the call and actually answer it and begin talking before they get out of the room...or worse yet, don't even have the courtesy to get up and LEAVE THE ROOM!  You can tell I get a little worked up over the cell phone, can't you?

NEWS FLASH:
It is not necessary for you to be constantly available to your friends, family, co-workers, boss, or clients!  Stop answering your phone at inappropriate times!

3. If someone is calling me while I'm driving, and I know they are going to ask me for information that I will need to look up, I will not pick up the phone unless I can easily pull over or get into a parking space.

Whew!  I'm off my soapbox now.  If you're wondering how I am a Realtor and I get away with not answering my phone, its really very simple.  My voice mail tells callers that I do call  backs 2 times a day on Monday-Friday, and on my calendar, I have 11:30-12:30 blocked for call backs and 4-5 blocked for call backs.  I call everyone back then and I'm not a slave to my cell phone.

Call backs are not the only thing I have blocked out in my paper calendar.  If there is something I want to get done in a particular day, it is blocked off in my calendar.  If its not written, it doesn't exist.  Quit telling yourself or others, "oh, I need to get this done." or "I need to get that done."  Block out the time on your calendar and GET IT DONE!  It's really that simple.  I've never been more productive than when I time block.  Its to the point now that if I don't time block on a particular day, I feel very unsuccessful at the end of that day.  Don't do that to yourself.  Whether you prefer paper or electronic calendaring, Google Calendar offers a wonderful FREE system that allows you to color code things, share your calendars, and even invite others to specific events.

Get your life back...STOP being a slave to your phone and TIME BLOCK everything that is important to you!  Below is a picture of my calendar.  You probably can't tell, but everything that is important to me, including 3 networking events, 3 hours of calling expired listings, 3 visits to Senior Communities, 3 one on one visits, Bible Study, "Helen Time," "Owen Time," and Trick-or-Treating are all blocked on my calendar this week.  Block what is most important to you this week and see if you feel more organized and efficient.  Its likely you will.