Many of us are living hectic lives that are jam-packed with dropping kids off for soccer practice, working full-time, going grocery shopping, and making sure we’re not forgetting the family’s regular dental visits.
It’s a lot to manage and sometimes feels impossible to find any sort of balance in your days. If you are one of those people seeking to live a healthier lifestyle, here are a few tips to help you regain your balance.
Limiting Our Social Media Intake
Every day as we scroll through Instagram or some other social network, we are pushed with various messages that tell us we are not enough. It says if we live an ordinary life, we aren’t extraordinary people who matter. We then start to believe the false narrative that the number of likes we get on a Facebook post determines our value.
Creating a healthy lifestyle can easily start by filtering out what we allow into our newsfeed. We have to curate our feed to meet our needs. Instead of following accounts that make us feel like we are missing something in our lives, we can now start to follow accounts that make us feel like we are a part of a community.
We can gain insight and positive affirmations from influencers who share humanizing stories to unite us rather than make us feel alone.
There is also a setting in your phone that tracks how much screen time you participate in each week. Don’t be afraid to look at those numbers. They’re a great way to start uncovering how much time you actually spend staring at your phone. This way, you can discover a little more balance between your digital world and the real world outside of your pocket.
Creating a Better Relationship with Finances
Finances end up becoming one of the biggest stressors in our lives. We get so caught up in making sure the bills are paid on time or that we have enough money to go on that next vacation that we tend to forget about everything else.
We have to make sure we aren’t overwhelmed with financial stressors so we can provide ourselves with balance in our personal lives as well. There are several resources available we may not even realize exist.
Perhaps you’re worried about managing your debt. LeverageRx, for instance, has been listed as one of the best lenders of 2021 that can help offer special mortgages called physician mortgage loans. This is because while already working incredibly irregular hours and doing life-saving work, they are also coming into the job with an ample amount of debt from student loans much later in life.
If it’s not the mortgage you’re worried about, there might be other financial restraints that are causing you to feel uneasy in your daily life. There are several apps that help with budgeting, such as PocketGuard or Mint, that help you manage your finances so you can spend more time enjoying life instead of stressing about your bank account.
Hit the Books
What was the last book you read? With the rise of audiobooks and more shows coming out on various streaming devices than we can keep up with, fewer and fewer people take time to read. When in fact, reading is actually a huge benefit to our physical and mental health.
Reading a tangible book reduces stress and depression, aids in sleep, and can even prevent or reduce the possibility of dementia later in life. Reading activates our brain while doing something like watching TV is considered passive and requires no actual work for the brain to do. Plus, you’re filling your cup with content you actually want to take in rather than what is pushed to us on social media.
Remove the Toxic People and Things from Your Life
It’s not always easy to let go, especially when it comes to people. Something like ridding excess sugar from your diet or quitting smoking might seem like a no-brainer. But removing people from your life has an emotional tie that is significantly more difficult.
As you start to work towards creating a more healthy and balanced life, you’ll start to learn more about what you value versus things that provide temporary happiness.
Say you like to go out for drinks four or five times a week because it’s when you have the chance to catch up with your friends. You notice that your work is starting to slip because you’re too tired and showing up late. Or maybe you’re missing out on other important things that used to matter in your life, like your favorite Sunday running club, because you can’t get yourself out of bed for that 6 AM meetup time.
As you try to make the necessary adjustments towards bettering yourself, you may not always see the people in your life follow suit. Ask if they are willing to meet up earlier in the day or do activities together that don’t revolve around alcohol. If they’re unwilling to adjust, maybe it’s time to remove them from your inner circle.
It’s like the Dr. Seuss quote says: “Those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”
Having Time Vs. Making Time
How often do we find ourselves wishing we had more time to do everything we want in the day? Spoiler alert! There are the same amount of hours every single day for every single person. So why is it that some people can get more done than others?
Sure there are necessities in life that make things more difficult to accomplish based upon income, jobs, parental duties, and other extenuating circumstances. But when it comes to finding balance, it’s about making sure you are taking care of the most important person in your life: yourself. The time we need to care for ourselves won’t just magically appear. We have to find ways to make the time.
Set aside one hour each day that is dedicated to yourself. This could be working on a passion project, taking a yoga class, or simply taking time to do nothing. If you put it in your calendar, you’ll be more prone to follow through with this time for yourself.
When it comes to having a balanced and healthy life, it is much more than having a good diet and regular exercise throughout the week. It’s more than checking things off of our to-do lists and going to bed at a regular hour. Balance is about finding a rhythm in the various aspects of our lives. While there is no perfect one-size-fits-all solution, there most certainly is something out there that will work for you.
Figure out the areas in your life that feel out of balance whether physically, emotionally, or spiritually. Really take time to analyze those aspects and see what needs to change. Maybe it’s making more time for yourself, or perhaps it’s saying goodbye to your old group of friends who no longer align with your values.
At the end of the day, it’s about what is going to work best for you to create a life of happiness, healthiness, and vitality.
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