The old model of work-life balance, that spoke to the division of time and effort between career and recreation, has been outdated and somewhat irrelevant for many years. The model that champions the vision of this formula in the 21st century, while including time spent in leisure and recreational activities, has become more about the quality of life related to levels of satisfaction and enjoyment, contrasted with stress and anxiety experienced by individuals.
Who we are at home, the levels of anxiety and happiness, our fears and phobias, our learned behaviour patterns, and the forces that compel us to develop our relationship building skills, are the very same elements that we carry with us into our working environment.
While some aspects of our workplace persona are uniquely exhibited in that environment, our underlying nature represents the foundation of the person we are, the manner in which we conduct ourselves, and the way in which we interact with others during our daily work activities.
With this in mind, emphasis must be placed on addressing the emotional and mental compass and well being of individuals to ensure an equitable approach to all of the elements required for a balanced, happy, and productive employee intent on successful outcomes both professionally and personally.
Individuals with a healthy work-life balance are recognisable by the manner in which they have prioritised and arranged elements of a successful career and lifestyle, combining personal and professional relationships that include development and growth in both areas.
Achieving and maintaining healthy mental and emotional well-being is a continuous process, influenced by our own desires for managing our lives successfully. It is within these processes, whereby people develop strategies that help them resolve common everyday problems, that we often find ourselves getting things wrong and falling out of balance. It is helpful if people are sensitised to core issues and ideas that impact their thinking, emotions, and behaviour.
We have been taught to regard others as the source of our emotional content, and we measure ourselves in relation to the distance we can achieve from whatever is negative or bad. The goal is to inform and educate individuals about the structured approach to personal development and reveal the solutions to the most common problems encountered by individuals seeking change.
It’s important that people realise the desire for goal achievement is not a guessing game and the forecasted level of success is clearly measurable. Additionally, it is crucial that people gain insight and firsthand knowledge into the manner in which they can make progress in their lives from an informed position.
During the past two decades, there have been a number of modalities that have influenced the standard approach to personal growth and development and have served to change the methodologies successful practitioners employ.
Cognitive behavioural therapy, hypnosis, addiction counseling, executive mentoring, and life coaching are just some examples of new techniques being employed by remedial and healing professionals.
While the traditional approaches of psychotherapy, relationship and family counseling, and psychometric testing are still relevant and among the most successful undertakings in personal growth and development, consideration must be given to those factors that have influenced the approach to one’s equity and stability and contributed to giving it a 21st century identity.
The Mental Skills For Success
What is keeping you from achieving your greatest success? What is your biggest fear? Do you talk yourself into that fear by imagining what it would be like to fail? Are you constantly trying to run away from the negative in your life?
Anxiety is tied to a fear of the future. Anxious feelings lead to nervousness, which leads to an inability to concentrate and focus. With anxious thoughts, it is impossible to have the relaxed, stress-free, and productive lifestyle that many people dream of.
What you think will happen, happens
What you think about, especially if it’s negative, is what becomes manifest. All permanent change occurs at the level of mental activity, and then it happens in the physical realm. So the first step to change is to stop talking about and feeding the fear and its resulting emotions.
Enter the world of your own imagination by anticipating and imagining what you want to happen. Use your senses—seeing, hearing, touching, and smelling to create the kind of life you want. It is called mental skills training or guided imagery.
Our thoughts create our reality and direct our physical body to produce that which is consistent with our thoughts. Therefore, only think about the good that you want and begin to eliminate negative self-talk.
As a medical student at Cambridge, Roger Bannister read several scientific documents dedicated to proving that it was physically impossible to run a sub-four minute mile. However, he believed it was possible. A huge part of his historical success was the result of “imagining and visualising” himself running and breaking the record. After practicing in his mind hundreds of times, he was able to easily accomplish this “impossible” feat.
Limiting Beliefs
Are you limited by your own fears and excuses? Is your belief in and commitment to what you can accomplish strong enough to produce successful outcomes? The potential we have as humans to accomplish our goals is unlimited. Release your fear and replace it with positive, empowering imagery of your talents and skills.
Practice makes better
Practice attaining your goals. Practice relaxing, both physically and mentally, through deep breathing exercises (deep breathing exercises cause the electrical energy in your brain to slow down). Once this has been accomplished, it becomes easier to place positive thoughts and imagery into your subconscious mind, which in turn has the potential to turn your thoughts into mental clarity, focused concentration, and goal achievement.
Produce an imaginary movie of yourself performing at your peak performance. Play this movie over and over in your mind’s eye, as if you were watching your own body from a different vantage point. Then, after you have watched yourself several times, allow yourself to move into the body and see your performance from inside the body, which is living the life and carrying out the action.
Use your imagination to “see” or imagine yourself carrying out the desired action with a smooth, powerful, effortless, and successful methodology. Imagine yourself confident, in control, and enjoying the feelings of success.
In my stress management workshops, group coaching sessions, and personal coaching sessions, I set out in plain and easy-to-understand language, the aspects, traditional and modern, surrounding a solid and knowledgeable approach in the search for work-life balance. I explain how to accomplish a shift in mindset of running away from negative thoughts and moving toward goals, and why many people use negative words to describe their positive well being.
Additionally I help participants realise any disparity existing in their work-life balance as it relates to such areas as health, finances, personal development goals, personal and professional relationships, and other important aspects contributing to successful outcomes. I teach individuals how to stop their buttons from being pushed and also explain the difference between visualisation and imagery.
If you want help sorting out your work-life balance … please click here and set up a free 30 minute meeting and I’ll tell you if I can help.
Here’s to mastering your stress.
The Stress Master
Ches Moulton
About Ches Moulton, The Stress Master
Ches Moulton, a certified stress management consultant, is the UK’s leading authority on stress management. His career has spanned more than 25 years, during which time he has been a much sought-after executive coach, psychotherapist, and trainer. His most recent work has been about helping people with high levels of stress solve their problems and live productive lives without the physical and mental effects of long-term stress.
During his time as a business performance consultant, Ches has served as an advisor to both private businesses and government in Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, Africa, and the Middle East. He is the author of ‘How to Get Control of Your Stress: Instead of Stress Controlling You’, and the international best-seller ‘Choice and Change — How to Have a Healthy Relationship with Ourself and Others’.
For more information… including videos, resources to download, and an opportunity to join Ches when he is live, please visit him at thestressmaster.com
