I got fired from my VP job at a tech company in January of 2020. At the time, I lacked any sense of life balance. Today, I have achieved life balance and am now the founder and principal designer of my own Interior Design Firm and Lifestyle Brand. I got here by HITTING PAUSE and LISTENING to my life.
My life told me that I needed a mindset shift if I ever wanted to have more life balance. I shifted from an approach of work-life balance (the term we all use) to LIFE-WORK balance. I chose, for the first time, to put my life first by prioritizing myself and my happiness.
Once I realized that I had to focus more on my life, I then had to ask myself some tough questions about what my life was trying to tell me. After a great deal of inner reflection, I realized that my career was causing a crack in my life’s foundation, impacting all the other aspects of my life.
As I worked to rebuild my career and the foundation of my life, I saw that if I evaluated my life like the stages of building a house: Foundation, Framing, Finish Work, and Design, that was a powerful way for me to achieve life balance.
Let me give you a deeper look into the four house-building stages and how to apply them to your life.
FOUNDATION:
All aspects of my life fall into one of 3 categories: career, health, and relationships. When I got fired and took a deep look at my life and my happiness, I realized that my life’s foundation had been cracked due to my career. I realized this after doing some deep inner work and asking myself some tough questions:
- What I was passionate about?
- What excited me?
- What were my hobbies?
- What would I do for a career if money wasn’t a consideration?
- What did I feel was my purpose?
I realized that if I couldn’t answer those questions, I had cracks in my life’s foundation. I realized that my unhappiness and devotion to a career that made me put work before my life was causing me to be unhappy with my health and unsatisfied with my relationships. If I could address the cracks my career was causing, then the other areas of my life would have stable footing for improvement as well.
FRAMING:
When building a house, this is literally what holds up the building. When building a life that you want, this is what will support YOU! After I realized I needed a major career change, I then needed to construct the framing that was going to support that change. For me, that meant hiring a coach to help me build a business plan so I could become an entrepreneur. I also went back to school to get 2 different degrees in my new career of Interior Design.
If you are considering a career change, this is when you take some courses in a field you are interested in. Or if you realize your health is the crack in your foundation, maybe you hire a personal trainer. The goal is to build the knowledge, skillsets, relationships, and health habits that can support you as you embark on a balanced life.
FINISH WORK:
This is when it gets exciting and you start to see tangible evidence of your hard work. For home building, this is when things such as the tile, flooring, and lighting get installed. When I was building my new business, this is when I was building a website, designing company logos, and starting to put myself out on social media as a newly formed entrepreneur.
This is a stage where you evaluate your progress and maybe adapt if things aren’t turning out exactly as you have envisioned. It is important to remain flexible and not expect perfection while building life balance.
DESIGN:
The design phase is when you grow into your life and how it will look moving forward. When building a house, this is when sofas, pillows and rugs get brought in to complete the design. You need rules to preserve your home, such as no shoes inside. Likewise, you need boundaries to preserve a mindset focused on life balance. Putting life first to ensure you have life-work balance requires being intentional with your choices.
In this stage, I had to learn boundaries so that I wouldn’t work 24/7 on my new business. I used time blocking to ensure my personal wellness received the non-negotiable time it deserved. I started blocking time to exercise, meditate, and journal each day. That helps me stay balanced and ensure my personal well-being comes first.
As you are reading this and contemplating your life? Do you have cracks in your life’s foundation that are preventing your from achieving more life balance and happiness?
Try hitting pause and listening to your life. The answers are often found within if you are open to receiving them. Then think about your life’s cracks and the stages of building a house as a way to start repairing them.
If you are interested in learning more, I offer Design Your Life Coaching programs based on shifting your mindset and evaluating your life with this house-building approach.
I’d love to connect with you on a free 30 minute introductory call to see if coaching with me is a good fit for you. You can book time here.
~Jeanne xo