Balance
verb
- put (something) in a steady position so that it does not fall.
- offset or compare the value of (one thing) with another.
Considering your values and not falling are two big components of balance. Until I read the
definition of balance, I never knew that. The idea of work:life balance had always been so abstract
to me.
When I was 23 I did fall. In the work:life balance sense. I fell what I can only imagine it is like falling
from a great height. I felt like I was spinning around, no sense of where up nor down were, it felt
like it was never-ending; what I was going to hit next was the only thing I could focus on.
At the time, it felt like a huge shock, as though this cliff edge had appeared out of nowhere but as I
look back, I know that I had been experiencing mini-trips for a long time. Little jolts like falling over a
kerb, steadying myself quickly, looking around and hoping no one saw.
And when I did land, my god it was painful, it took a long time to recover, I felt battered and bruised
and embarrassed and I felt like no one really understood what I had just been through and in a way, I
didn’t really want them to.
I no longer had a steady position and I fell – I was out of balance.
So my hunt started, how could I walk through everyday life and work and not feel like I was always
just about to fall off the kerb or worse.
It dawned on me, when I had energy, I could jump over those kerbs, and when I was tired, I was
more likely to misstep. Was I conscious in the moment of what was around me or was I rushing
from one place to another.
I needed to approach balance through my energy.
I’ll save you the long story of exactly how I got to the BE:DO Approach but when I got there, that was
my epiphany moment. That was when everything fell (ha!) into place.
I’ve been using the BE:DO Approach myself for 10 years now and with colleagues and clients for 7.
When we start with a base line of understanding our values (as our helpful dictionary definition
suggests) we can build up and understand what gives us the right energy at the right time to live
more in-line with those values, in more balance.
The amount and type of Being energy and Doing energy that we draw upon during the day can settle
us, fine tune our balance, keep us from falling.
We all have different values, we all have different energy levels.
The BE:DO Approach works by personalising what that abstract sense of balance is for you and gives
you the framework to feel a sense of gliding through life not falling.
If you would like to learn more about to BE:DO approach, we offer this as a 1 hour Wellbeing Workshop. You can find out more about our Wellbeing Workshop Programme here or you can email amy@stressmatters.org.uk to find out more and book.
Laura
www.bedoapproach.com
