Nowadays, life can get very busy for everyone. You have work, family, and communal activities to attend to. When all these are happening at the same time, each competes for your undivided attention which can be overwhelming.
In the process, it is easy to get lost and find your life out of balance, making you feel like you’re losing your sense of direction and purpose.
While your financial and social obligations often dictate your behavior and choices, what can you do to gain back control when your life is out of balance?
This collaborative post focuses on 5 ways we can end the overwhelm and take back some control.
5 tips to take back some control from an out of balance life #balance #life #advice
Tweet
#1. Have a goal and vision for your life
A life out of balance often makes you feel like you’re not achieving anything. Take time to envision what you want for your life in the long run.
Based on the plan you have, create goals to help you achieve what you want. Come up with the short-term and long-term goals by creating separate lists. Plan for small tasks daily that motivate you to keep going.
Celebrate the small wins along the way and you’ll enjoy seeing how far you’ve come!
#2. Do away with the bad habits
Bad habits create setbacks and leave you feeling out of control. Some of these include poor sleeping habits, eating unhealthily, drug and love addiction, or overspending finances.
It could also be swimming in self-doubt or even comparing yourself to others.
List out all the habits that are bringing you down and take simple steps towards eliminating them.
Start being more mindful of where your time is spent, what you look at, and the activities you engage in to help you go from a life out of balance to a life lived on and in purpose.
#3. Set boundaries and learn to prioritize
People and activities can keep taking from you, without giving anything in return. Sometimes, it boils down to the company you keep.
If you always give in to the needs of your family and friends, it’s about time you learn how to say “NO” regardless of what they think.
I know that it’s hard to do sometimes, but learning to set boundaries is one of the easiest ways to correct a life out of balance.
Healthy people will respect healthy boundaries. Your needs matter!
True friendships and relationships are give and take unless there are legitimate caregiving reasons for it being one-sided.
If you always find yourself giving and they are always taking, it’s okay to pull away from the relationship.
Let go of toxic relationships and love them from a healthy distance for you.
Learn to prioritize what is most important, and make sure you put yourself as a priority. While taking care of your family, take care of yourself.
Prioritize saving, enough work, rest, faith, family, fun, and health.
#4. Don’t neglect your health
Health is an essential part of ensuring you keep your life balanced. Poor health affects all aspects of your life including work, family, and personal life, taking away your control and creating a life out of balance.
Take charge of your health by eating healthy; this includes a balanced diet.
Keep good sleep hygiene by sticking to a sleep routine and getting enough sleep. Ensure you exercise your body regularly to burn excess energy. Also, routinely schedule visits with the doctor for physical and mental checkups.
#5. Engage in activities you love
You are the only one who can take control of your life; ensure you create time for yourself.
Even with everyday hassles, have a time where you can engage in activities that you love just for the sake of loving them.
Some of these include gardening, watching movies, painting, or writing. These moments allow you to get back in touch with yourself, so don’t ignore their impact.
Not only will it help you avoid a life out of balance but your joy will be contagious for others! 🙂
Bottom Line
Live the life you want by knowing what lights your heart up with joy & living it!
As you go about your daily routine, remember to create time for yourself where you engage in activities that you love.
For you to regain your balance, envision where you want to be in the short term and long term, and create goals to help you get there. Do away with bad habits, check on your health, learn to prioritize, and set boundaries.
Most of all, don’t get overwhelmed with the changes! Take them as quickly or as slowly as you need to. Before you know it, your out of balance life will be a life well lived!
- Do you struggle to find balance in your life?
- What have you changed to increase your peace and enjoyment?
I look forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments below and hope you have enjoyed this collaborative post!
If you know someone who would enjoy this read, please be sure and share on social media! I genuinely appreciate your support! ♥
Much Love & God Bless,
Oooo I love it! What a fantastic collaborative post, Holly. I’ve got a draft underway on setting healthy boundaries but it’s an excellent point here that there may be some legitimate cases where it’s not quite an equal two-way street, such as in the case of caregiving. I love all the other suggestions and reminders – so often life ‘gets in the way’, we get too busy and life goes out of whack, and then it’s a vicious circle. Grounding ourselves and taking it slowly, making sure to look after ourselves, take care of our health, assert boundaries, do the things we enjoy, will all help in regaining the balance. xx
I look forward to reading your post on boundaries, Caz!! You are such a brilliant writer. Funny thing is, before receiving this collab post, I too have a draft post in the works that references boundaries. It’s a very important topic, isn’t it? It is important to remember that so many of us are caring for a loved one that simply aren’t able to give back to us in the same way. Sadly, so many people already feel like a burden on others because of their needs. 😞 It’s a hard spot to be in!
I love it when you share your thoughts, my friend. You always add so much to the conversation. Thank you for being your awesome self! Here’s to praying that our lives will be balanced, blessed, and whole in 2021. 💓
I agree! This is a great post and it’s so true. I need these tips because my life is out of balance and I need to make more time for the things I love.
A life out of balance can be tricky, can’t it? It’s easy to get overwhelmed and lose sight of what really matters. I’m so grateful for you taking the time to share your thoughts, nattbarletta! Thank you for being you! ♥
Very great tip! We must make time for the things we love and take care of ourselves.
Great to hear your thoughts, thank you! 😊 I agree, taking time for the things that fill our hearts with joy is extremely important. That one tip alone sets us up for well-being in our hearts, minds, and bodies. ♥
I love your advice on keeping a balanced life. I love the idea of creating goals and celebrating the small accomplishments along the way. That’s something I don’t do enough of. However, whenever I do celebrate, even if it’s just a tiny cupcake from my favorite bakery, it encourages me to keep going!
I also need to take your advice to do something I love. I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t even had time to sit down and enjoy crocheting! That always relaxes me. I definitely need to take time to do that this weekend. Thanks for the reminder!
I hope you have a wonderful and blessed weekend! Pinned and shared this amazing post!
I love that you celebrate with a cupcake from your favorite bakery, Michelle! That’s awesome! 😊 And I agree, even something as simple as that can give us the drive we need to keep up the great work. We’ve got to encourage ourselves, right? And hopefully, God will send people into our lives (like you are for me!!) that lift us up, encourage us, and give us the courage to keep pushing toward our goals and dreams.
Oooh, I hope you were able to create another crochet masterpiece this weekend. Please tell me that you did get some downtime to do just that? 🤗 You are so gifted!
Thank you so much Michelle for blessing my life with your friendship, support, and encouragement. You’ll never know how many times you said (or did) something that gave me the hope to keep pushing onward. You’re the best! ♥
So funny that I just got this!! I just got online to tell you that I was able to sit down and crochet today and just relax! And I have you to thank for that!! 😀
Awesome!! That makes me SO happy to hear! 😉 You deserve it, my friend!
This is such a great post, Holly! Your tips are practical, but SO good! I will definitely pin and share! Blessings to you, Sister! 🙏🏾😊
Hi sister Tai! (I love your name, by the way!) Your words of encouragement are so thoughtful. It does my heart good to hear that you enjoyed this post and found the tips to be practical. Every little bit we do to move in the right direction is a good step. 😊 I am incredibly grateful for kindness and support.
I’m so grateful to have recently met you. I hope we can help each other reach toward our goals and dreams. God is good! 💓
Hi, Holly! I’m so grateful to have met you as well, Sister! We can definitely help each other reach dreams and goals. I would love that! Please let me know if there’s any way that I can help support you and we can plan to connect more when you have time if you’d like. 😊 And yes, God is good! ❤🙌🏾
This is such a helpful post! I’m quite good at setting myself goals, but I’m not so good at doing away with bad habits, especially procrastination and spending too much time browsing on social media! I also need to get better at prioritising the most important things in life! x
Hi Sophie! What you’ve said is very relatable! 😊 Your post on setting weekly goals is one that I LOVE and have kept nearby to remind myself. Procrastination is definitely easy to fall into. I’ve found that if I just go ahead and tackle what I’m putting off – it’s a big confidence builder for future projects I’d like to put off for whatever the reason.
Here’s to hoping that 2021 is our best year yet. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I do love hearing from you!
This is a great list, I need to start doing some of these as I really do feel out of balance after having my son!
Corinne x
Hi Corinne! Having a baby is definitely one of those life changes that quite literally changes everything. I’m sure you do feel out of balance since it’s all so new. I believe in you and know that as each day goes by, you’ll find the right balance for you and your little family!
Sending love to you & yours. Thank you for stopping in & sharing your thoughts! I appreciate you.
We all need to learn to relax and take a little time for ourselves. It is hard that’s for sure, especially if you have a demanding job and are still raising kids. But it can be as simple as a bubble bath, or taking a walk. The main thing is not to forgot about ourselves. Thank you Holly 🙂
I love what you said Michele. You always add so much to the conversation! I agree with you; it can be extremely hard to ‘find time’ in the midst of busy schedules and responsibilities. Life is life and there isn’t much we can do about that!
I hope you are well, my friend. ♥ Thank you again for your kindness! I appreciate you!
Lately my life has been out of balance because there is a lot of things going on at the same time, so your post will definitely be helpful for me to try to take back some control. I do need to set goals & I’ve been trying to cut out unhealthy snacks & takeaway.
Hi Karalee! It’s nice to hear from you! I hear you; it can be tough when life happens all at once or there are particularly demanding times when everything just gets out of whack. We all have those. 🙂 Thankfully, it’s in those times that we learn best how we can find time to just breathe and let our minds and bodies rest. Planning can be done during the slower moments of life, but practicing it is a whole ‘nother matter.
I believe in you and I know you’ll be finding the right flow for you in the very near future! Thank you for your kind words. Blessings to you and yours. ♥
Thank you so much!
Ah Holly! What a great post! I couldn’t agree more!
I know it’s going to sound generic… but in order to have peace, I have truly begin to pretty much ‘Let Go and Let God’. It’s NO easy feat though… and sometimes requires being put into practice a few times a day, ha ha ha!
But I’ve been a cowgirl in training 😛 and I am a lot quicker on the draw these days 😉
So when my mind goes there again, or my heart starts feeling sad, it’s becoming easier to ‘shut out the noise’ and continue on without too much damage 😉
I’ve also, thanks to some unpleasant experiences of late, managed to finally learn what it means to truly forgive – and how freeing that can be to one’s OWN mental and physical health! So there’s that too 😉
Lots of love and huge hugs, my friend <3
Sweet friend, it always makes my day when I hear from you! I adore your input and how you share your wisdom. You’re a breath of fresh air!
What you said doesn’t sound generic at all actually. In fact, I think as humans, we tend to overcomplicate matters that should be simple! You know? Your words are truth. “Letting go and letting God” isn’t as easy as it sounds! Like you said, sometimes we have to practice “letting go” multiple times in any given day, ha ha! (Love that, by the way)
I love what you wrote about shutting out the noise. Yes! How true that is! We have so many ‘voices’ competing for our attention, don’t we? Rarely do we realize just how influenced our thoughts and actions are simply by the auto-pilot conversations going on in our minds. I’m proud of you my friend for challenging those old lies and depressing thoughts; draw that gun of yours & tell ’em where to go! 😁
My heart was saddened to hear that you’ve had some heartbreaks lately. Bless your heart. I love how it reminded you of the power of forgiveness though. It’s true, isn’t it? Forgiveness isn’t for the other person at all. It really is for us.
Sending my love to you for being you and for being so amazing. You are loved, appreciated, valued, and always heard. ♥
Thank you so much, my dear Holly <3
The hits just keep coming for me, sigh. AND YET… and here's the most amazing thing FOR ME… there truly has been a HUGE restoration and positive change deep in my soul. I'm actually handling these hits like a pro 😉
Please don't get me wrong… sometimes I stumble and fall… But even on the ground there is this all consuming mercy and grace, and an abundance of hope and faith, and I am still able to crawl and express the same to others.
(my thoughts are not always as pure as they should be 😛 but at least my mouth isn't working so fast anymore 😉 )
Sending a HUGE amount of love and prayers your way. Thinking of you <3
Great tips on keeping a balanced life! I don’t even know which one is my favourite tip beacuse they all go hand in hand together. Thank you for sharing, Holly x
Lynn | http://www.lynnmumbingmejia.com
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Lynn! ♥ You’re right – a balanced life really does incorporate each of these. One without the other could be trouble!
Gteat post and important advices you talked here. We all need some time for ourselves.
Amen to that. We really do need time for ourselves to simply be still and quiet or do something that sparks us with pure joy! Thank you for sharing your thoughts. ♥
Thank you so much Holly. God bless you. 💜
This is a great post, I think at the moment people find it tough to stay motivated and keep their life interesting and in balance. Thank you for sharing, keeping focused and deciding your goal is a great way to keep in balance x
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment! ♥ You’re right, now more than ever, many people are finding it difficult to stay focused on what really matters. There is so much negativity and fear in our environment on a daily basis. We need to unplug and look after ourselves so that we can continue doing what serves us well.
And I love what you said about staying focused and deciding on a goal. It’s true. Having a vision for what we’d like to do or achieve can be vital to our success. If we know the direction we’re headed in; it makes it a lot easier to say no to what won’t get us there.
I know that I struggle with getting enough sleep. Setting a routine for this, and sticking to going to bed and waking up at the same time have been good. Reading before bed, for 30-60min helps my brain wind down and become ready to sleep. It also means that my sleep is usually more efficient and effective. The next step for me is pushing my bed time slowly and sustainably back so that I can wake up before the time I have to leave to walk to work in the morning. This will give me time to exercise a bit, and write a bit, before I move onto my paid employment.
I really value your posts because they highlight the importance of self care and in particular embracing our spiritual health. I know I feel healthier when I engage in relationship with God and accept the peace He offers us.
Go well into the coming week, and peace to you and your loved ones. 💛
How are you doing with creating a little better sleep structure for yourself, Hamish? Half the battle is knowing what does and doesn’t work for you. It sounds like you already have that understand, which is great! 🙂
I adore this line: “I know I feel healthier when I engage in relationship with God and accept the peace He offers us.” — AMEN! I feel exactly the same as you. It is my personal belief that the more we prioritize our time with the Lord, lining up to His heart for us, the more satisfaction and contentment we feel in our daily lives.
I pray you are well my friend. Thank you for always sharing such amazing wisdom! ♥
I am finding a way to keep steadily bringing my bedtime back, while maintaining a consistent time I wake up and get up. It is not easy, because I find my mind waking up at 10, ready to dive into all these ideas reaching out from the fringes of my creativity. But I’m also realising I can be awake in the mornings before 7.30 too, where I can engage that creativity in different ways.
It is certainly not a science but I’m moving in the right directions I think. Thank you for asking. 🙂
This post is needed now more than ever, Holly. We are going to have to re-evaluate so much of ourselves on the other side of the pandemic! Who would have thought the world would be what it is today, challenging our mental health and pushing us off balance time and again. I’ll try to pay closer attention to many of the things you put on this list. I’ve done much less socializing lately and it’s felt comfortable with just a few people but I can’t isolate or I risk spiralling so hopefully things start to open up soon. HUGS and more HUGS 💗
Dearest Christy, I adore hearing from you. Your insight is always welcome here. ♥ Thank you for your kind words!
You’re right, there has been a significant shift in how we do things and how we think. Some of it has been good and some of it has been terribly challenging. Growth definitely comes in those moments of life that are the hardest. It’s where we learn what’s inside of us really and what we need to change. Our natural tendency is to want to stay in our comfort zones which doesn’t always serve us well. 🙂 One advantage of being off balance is having to pivot our expectations and our mindsets. It can reveal so much to us, if we allow it.
It does my heart good to hear that you’ve been able to do the right amount of socializing. That’s important! I’m an introvert and need very little (which has helped!) but like you, isolation definitely can cause a spiral into depression or anxiety. Are you feeling like you’ve found that balance now?
Sending hugs upon hugs upon hugs your way. Thank you for being you. Miss you my friend!
Love this post! So inspiring to get on the right track! Thanks for sharing x
Hi Pavis Paints! How are you? Thank you so much for your kind comments! I’m glad you found it inspiring. Balance can feel elusive at times but a lot of growth happens in those moments when we are trying it find it again. 🙂 Sending love and hugs your way. I hope you are well?
What perfect timing to share these excellent tips Holly! I think we all need to feel better and get back to taking care of ourself.
Hi Diane! It’s great to hear from you! I agree with you; even if it’s just small things to do, we should take some time to slow down and remember the joy in life. There’s negativity all around us. But there’s still a whole lot of beauty too! ♥ Sending love to you. I hope you and yours are well?
Love all these fantastic tips to enjoy a well balanced life , this will keep many of us motivated . Thanks for such a wonderful post!
Dearest Nisha, you are so sweet! I always love hearing from you, thank you! We all need some help now and again getting motivated to live the kind of life that brings joy, right? Thank you for your kindness. ♥
Many Thanks dear Holly, a pleasure to hear from you always as well. You are absolutely right we all need motivation to live life and bring about cheer. Thanks for sharing such fabulous posts.
Another great and valuable post Holly. It is so important to be in balance and not overwhelmed. I felt bad over past months in pulling back from people who were draining me of all energy and making me feel so low in myself as they needed support for various issues. However, once I remembered that they were surrounded by family members and friends to support them whereas I am just me dealing with grief. I knew it was the right thing to do to step back, be me and get myself back on track. I still check in with them, offer a kind word and prayer and then focus on my life and those closest to me. Self care is so important and we sometimes don’t understand this until we start to feel the affects of not looking after ourselves. God bless Holly xx
Amen Dawn. I am so very grateful to hear that you did step back from people in your life that were not really giving life to you. There are seasons and circumstances in our lives when others cannot or will not give to us what we give. And that’s okay. However, there are times, like you describe when the imbalance is not okay. That’s when we must realize our own needs and worth, place boundaries, and take care of ourselves. It’s not selfish. We can’t be anything for anybody if we are so worn out and stressed out that it’s wearing us down. Anyone who doesn’t respect that truly doesn’t care about us anyhow!
I agree with you, self care is very important. ♥ Sending hugs & love your way!