2874: Life Balance Disruptors and Protectors: How to Find Better Life Balance and Improve Wellbeing by Rachael Kable

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra

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[00:01:06] [SPEAKER_02]: This is Optimal Finance Daily, Life Balance Disruptors and Protectors,

[00:01:12] [SPEAKER_02]: How to Find Better Life Balance and Improve Wellbeing by Rachael Kable of RachaelKable.com.

[00:01:20] [SPEAKER_02]: And I'm your host and personal finance enthusiast, Diana Merriam. Welcome back to a bonus Sunday

[00:01:26] [SPEAKER_02]: episode where I share an extra episode from one of our other shows where we read articles to you.

[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_02]: Today, I'm sharing one from Optimal Living Daily. If you enjoy it, you can follow or subscribe in

[00:01:40] [SPEAKER_02]: your favorite podcast app for daily episodes. So with that, here's Justin from Optimal Living Daily

[00:01:47] [SPEAKER_03]: as we optimize your life. Life Balance Disruptors and Protectors, How to Find Better Life Balance,

[00:01:59] [SPEAKER_03]: Increase Self-Care and Improve Your Wellbeing by Rachael Kable of RachaelKable.com.

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_03]: This may sound strange since I'm writing an article about it, but I don't actually believe

[00:02:10] [SPEAKER_03]: in life balance. I personally don't think my life is balanced. I spend more time working

[00:02:17] [SPEAKER_03]: than engaging in self-care. My home life is far more prolific than my social life.

[00:02:23] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't have enough hours in the day to spread my time equally between all the things I care about.

[00:02:28] [SPEAKER_03]: However, I do believe in feeling balanced and I'm really excited to share some of my top tips

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_03]: so you can hopefully feel me. Feeling balanced means I'm generally satisfied with how much

[00:02:41] [SPEAKER_03]: time I spend in the different areas of my life. I'm not overwhelmed by to-do lists and feeling

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_03]: like I'm constantly running out of time. My physical and mental health are as good as they

[00:02:51] [SPEAKER_03]: can be, i.e. getting enough sleep, eating regular meals, engaging in self-care, etc. Stress is well

[00:02:58] [SPEAKER_03]: managed and I can properly enjoy the fun times in my life and I listen to my intuition about what

[00:03:04] [SPEAKER_03]: I need and make sure I prioritize self-care and quality time with my loved ones. However,

[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_03]: this is simply my personal perspective on what life balance feels like. You may have an entirely

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_03]: different idea about how life balance feels and I'd like to encourage you to think about the

[00:03:21] [SPEAKER_03]: questions and determine your own definition of life balance. Which life areas are most important

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_03]: to me and do I prioritize them enough? Am I as healthy as I'd like to be? Do I have realistic

[00:03:34] [SPEAKER_03]: goals to work towards? Am I properly managing stress and other factors which can be linked to

[00:03:40] [SPEAKER_03]: unbalance such as fatigue or illness? Do I listen to my needs and fulfill them? Are there any areas

[00:03:47] [SPEAKER_03]: of my life which I feel are taking over and can I do anything about that? Am I aware of my balance

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_03]: disruptors and protectors? And speaking of balance disruptors and protectors, you might be

[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_03]: wondering what they actually are. Balance disruptors are essentially the things in our lives which tend

[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_03]: to interfere with how balanced we feel while balance protectors usually enhance our sense

[00:04:10] [SPEAKER_03]: of balance and protect it even during challenging times. Balance disruptors. A few of my own balance

[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_03]: disruptors include stress because it seems like the one thing I'm stressed about is taking over

[00:04:23] [SPEAKER_03]: my whole life. Alcohol, essentially whenever I drank alcohol I felt nauseous and sad. And social

[00:04:30] [SPEAKER_03]: media. There was a time when I wasted hours on social media and felt overwhelmed by comparison

[00:04:35] [SPEAKER_03]: and the fear of missing out. It's important to at least be aware of your biggest balance disruptors

[00:04:40] [SPEAKER_03]: so you can plan for any unbalance they may cause. For example, if stress is one of your balance

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_03]: disruptors and you know there's a stressful change or event happening at work, you can implement a

[00:04:53] [SPEAKER_03]: self-care plan and let your supports know you might need some extra help. Awareness of your balance disruptors

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_03]: is great, however you can also consciously choose to minimize the impact of them if it's possible.

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_03]: I used to drink a few glasses of wine most nights and even more than that if I went out. And

[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_03]: eventually I decided I couldn't keep doing that if I wanted to feel well balanced in my life.

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_03]: I now only drink alcohol for special occasions and even then I don't over consume. Feel free to

[00:05:24] [SPEAKER_03]: experiment with your balance disruptors and notice how you can minimize their impact, but try to also

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_03]: have some fun with it. Implement changes slowly and in small doses, check in with yourself regularly

[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_03]: and perhaps even organize a support network to keep you accountable. Balance protectors. My most

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_03]: important balance protectors are good quality sleep, support, mindfulness and meditation, exercise

[00:05:51] [SPEAKER_03]: and self-care. When the balance protectors aren't being incorporated regularly into my life, I tend

[00:05:57] [SPEAKER_03]: to notice myself feeling out of balance. The good news is I can quickly turn that feeling around

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_03]: by consciously taking the time to go to bed early, talk to someone who cares about me, practice

[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_03]: mindfulness, especially creative activities like photography, meditate and do some of my favorite

[00:06:14] [SPEAKER_03]: self-care activities such as take a bath or read a book. To discover your own balance protectors,

[00:06:21] [SPEAKER_03]: look at the things in your life which tend to have a positive impact on how balanced you feel.

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Perhaps particular activities, foods, people, places, objects, music or animals. Whichever

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_03]: balance protectors you choose, be sure to think about the importance of self-care. How do you take

[00:06:40] [SPEAKER_03]: care of yourself when your life is a little unbalanced and there isn't a lot you can do to

[00:06:45] [SPEAKER_03]: change it? For example, when I had my wisdom teeth surgery in early 2017, I was feeling quite unbalanced

[00:06:52] [SPEAKER_03]: because I couldn't leave the house and I wasn't being as active as usual. I also wasn't eating

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_03]: regularly because it was so difficult and when I did eat, it wasn't my normal food. It was important for

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_03]: me to engage in good self-care as much as I could to maintain a sense of balance. How to make time

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_03]: for self-care. One of the challenges I've heard people face when it comes to self-care is not

[00:07:15] [SPEAKER_03]: having enough time. Here's my top three tips for making time for self-care. Number one, replace

[00:07:22] [SPEAKER_03]: time spent watching tv or scrolling social media with self-care. These two activities used to take

[00:07:29] [SPEAKER_03]: up much more time than I realized. When I wanted to incorporate more self-care into my life, it was

[00:07:35] [SPEAKER_03]: simple enough to replace 20 minutes each day of tv or social media time with self-care. Number two,

[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_03]: change your perspective. Sometimes we do things to take care of ourselves and forget that we're

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_03]: actually engaging in self-care. For example, taking a warm shower, reading a book, sleeping in, cuddling

[00:07:55] [SPEAKER_03]: a loved one, and putting on moisturizer or other skincare products. Rather than incorporating new

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_03]: self-care practices into your life, start to shift your perspective on what self-care is to include

[00:08:07] [SPEAKER_03]: many things you already do. And number three, look for opportunities. Lying in bed at night when you

[00:08:14] [SPEAKER_03]: can't sleep, commuting to work, waiting in queues. These are just a few examples of times when you

[00:08:20] [SPEAKER_03]: could do a meditation or mindfulness practice to engage in self-care. You just listened to the post

[00:08:30] [SPEAKER_03]: titled, Life Balance Disruptors and Protectors, How to Find Better Life Balance, Increase Self-Care,

[00:08:36] [SPEAKER_03]: and Improve Your Well-Being by Rachel Cable of rachelcable.com. Buy low, sell high. Buy low,

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[00:09:39] [SPEAKER_03]: This is a paid advertisement. Thank you to Rachel. She makes a great point because what

[00:09:47] [SPEAKER_03]: exactly is balance? What does a balanced life look like? Some of us are introverts and simply need

[00:09:53] [SPEAKER_03]: more time alone to feel good and to recharge, whereas some of us are extroverts that recharge

[00:10:00] [SPEAKER_03]: by being around the energy of other people. So what's balanced for me can look completely different

[00:10:06] [SPEAKER_03]: to life balanced for you. And those questions she shared at the beginning of the article

[00:10:11] [SPEAKER_03]: are a great starting point to become more aware of that balance and to put us on a path of making

[00:10:17] [SPEAKER_03]: changes that could help us feel more balanced. Some of those questions were, am I as healthy as

[00:10:22] [SPEAKER_03]: I'd like to be? Do I have realistic goals to work towards? Do I listen to my needs and fulfill them?

[00:10:28] [SPEAKER_03]: By asking these questions and on a regular basis, we can be more mindful of our current circumstances

[00:10:34] [SPEAKER_03]: and then discover what we need to do to get back on track. So with that, stay on track,

[00:10:41] [SPEAKER_03]: have a great rest of your day and night, and I'll be back tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.