Is Life Balance Really Possible?

Your life is spent in the minutes, hours, and days that are yours. How do you spend that time, and where do you spend that time? Does the way you spend your life seem to mirror your interests, joy, values, and relationships? If not, why not?

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal by Allison Pohle, “The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s 2020 Better Life Index found that the U.S. ranks 30th out of 40 countries in terms of time devoted to leisure and personal care. With fewer Americans commuting to workplaces during the coronavirus pandemic, many are using that time to work even more, leading some to feel burned out. In a September survey of 310 organizations by the Conference Board, 46% of respondents said their work-life balance had decreased.”

An Intentional Approach to life balance

Life balance means something different to every individual and it is important that you determine what balance appropriately supports your mission, values, and goals. Healthy individuals have multiple sources of satisfaction. Are you regularly engaging in a variety of activities that bring you satisfaction? This is an opportunity to evaluate what is important to spend time on and what activities you need to diminish in your life.

Having a balanced life doesn’t happen by accident. It requires an intentional approach toward one’s life, aimed at achieving a comfort level that an individual desires in all areas that matter to them. It’s next to impossible to move immediately from being a workaholic to having a well-balanced life. Moving in a positive direction is a step-by-step process. It requires personal commitment.

Having a balanced life doesn’t happen by accident. It requires an intentional approach toward one’s life, aimed at achieving a comfort level that an individual desires in all areas that matter to them.

For example, Ken explained that his job required 12 -14-hour days to get the work done. Over time, he committed to a work reduction of one hour at a time until he reached the point where he, his employer, and his co-workers understood how much he was willing to invest in his job and what he needed outside of work to be a happy and healthy individual.

Integrating Life Balance

Life balance needs to be seen holistically and integrated with all aspects of your life and not as a pure balancing of your time, effort, and attention. You’ll need to think about those areas of your life where time spent must be reduced or eliminated and those areas where it must be increased. You’ll have to think about to whom you will need to talk--your boss, your spouse or your significant other, a friend--and you will need to think about taking action steps that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-sensitive toward the vision you want.

Life balance needs to be seen holistically and integrated with all aspects of your life and not as a pure balancing of your time, effort, and attention. You’ll need to think about those areas of your life where time spent must be reduced or eliminated and those areas where it must be increased.

We know that what may appear to be the most intractable challenges to having a more balanced life can be met head-on and overcome. We have seen this in the people we coach and advise. The solution always appears to be that the challenge has to be named and accepted, and then one has to have the courage to take those first steps leading to incremental, positive change.

Our book is rated 4.5 stars on Amazon. Click here to buy the book.

If you would like more information about living a balanced life, we recommend reading chapter six in our book Time To Get Real!. Having an appropriate life balance is one component of the Life and Career Planning Model© featured in the book. This model is the framework for developing your own life and career plan. Should you choose to create your own plan, we suggest that you consider some amount of personal coaching that can help you to discern and activate your life’s mission and move you toward the best life and career that you deserve. Our coaching fees and services are flexible and meet a broad array of client financial and coaching needs. All Life and Career Planning LLC coaches are experienced and certified in the Life and Career Planning Model© and serve as your accountability partner. To inquire about working with a coach, click here.

Create an Action Plan for Personal and Professional Success

We are pleased to announce that Alex Plinio and Melissa Smith are presenting Self-Empowerment: Leading an Intentional Life on Monday, May 23 from 10:00 am to 11:00 am. This interactive Zoom session, focusing on how to create an action plan for personal and professional success, is offered by the North Central Jersey Association of Realtors and is available to any interested individuals whether or not they are members of the organization.

Click here to register

The presentation centers on a market and time-test guide to leading an intentional life. It helps individuals to take control directing them through a process leading to actions that result in personal and professional success.

Alex J. Plinio, President, Life and Career Planning LLC

· Manage unforeseen challenges with resilience, confidence, and self-direction

· Make decisions and choices that create opportunities for you

· Integrate your life and career and build the future that you desire

· Control more of your life through readiness and preparation

Their message to you is clear. You can be more in control of your future and can achieve success and happiness, but you need to think and act like the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of your own life. This is the essence of their process. Be that CEO.

Melissa Smith, Managing Director, Life and Career Planning LLC

Don’t let the current environment stop you from being intentional about what you want to do with your life and career. Doing nothing is a response that you don’t want to have since it always places you in a reactive position. Now is the time to think through options and your future. Don’t wait - get ahead of the curve.

Our book is rated 4.5 stars on Amazon. Click here to buy the book.

During this Zoom seminar, Alex and Melissa will take you through the basics of the Life and Career Planning Model© that is described in their book, Time To Get Real! They will provide options to you so that you can develop your personal life and career plan and be intentional about creating your own future.

Click here to register - Seminar cost is $39.

To learn more about the entire Self-Empowerment Principle Training Program series created by the North Central Jersey Association of Realtors® (NCJAR) to enhance personal and professional development, click here.

The Value of Your Personal Values

Values exist, whether you recognize them or not. Life can be much easier when you acknowledge your personal values and when you make plans and decisions that honor them.

Personal values are those basic principles, ways of behavior, or basic belief tenets you would find exceptionally difficult to live without. There are many personal values including achievement, adventure, compassion, creativity, trustworthiness, determination, friendships, happiness, success, wisdom.

Knowing your personal values

What are your personal values? And where do they come from? First, there are many contributors to your values. Your family and the significant people in your life, both relatives and friends, make a contribution. Your religious beliefs, education, and life experiences all help you to discern how your values develop and just what they are. Why is this important? It’s important because when you plan to create a holistic, strategic approach for your life and career, your values will be the motor to drive you forward and to help you make the decisions about the kind of work you’ll do, the kind of position you’ll accept, the kind of company or organization you’ll join or move away from, and the kind of person you choose to be.

When you plan to create a holistic, strategic approach for your life and career, your values will be the motor to drive you forward and to help you make the decisions about the kind of work you’ll do, the kind of position you’ll accept, the kind of company or organization you’ll join or move away from, and the kind of person you choose to be.

We encourage you to take a look at your personal values. In our book, Time To Get Real! there is a brief exercise to help you to discern your personal values. To guide you, we refer you to a list of values, but remember that there may be a personal value you hold that is not on the list. Also, you might start out with a fairly long list of values you hold to be important, but we would encourage you not to have more than five to eight key values at the end of the exercise. As a matter of fact, you might find that some values are contained within others. For example, if you have a personal value of helping others, this might be listed as service to others or philanthropic/charitable work. Or if you have a personal value of education the value of learning could be a part of that. In any case, try to get down to the values that really matter to you.

Your behavior Reveals your values

You should be able, when your list of values is completed, to see just how the values you say you hold dear are apparent in your life. Once you have identified your most important values, it is important to then engage in behaviors that move you towards those values. This means committing to things you can do that are in line with them. Identify an action or behavior that will bring your life more in line with a particular value. For example, if a value of yours is “trustworthiness” notice if you are regularly engaging in trustworthy behavior. You can also ask a close friend or family member if they perceive your behavior as trustworthy.

Our book is rated 4.5 stars on Amazon. Click here to buy the book.

If you would like more information about discovering and living your values, we recommend reading chapter three in our book Time To Get Real! Knowing and living your values is one component of the Life and Career Planning Model© featured in the book. This model is the framework for developing your own life and career plan. Should you choose to create your own plan, we suggest that you consider some amount of personal coaching that can help you to discern and activate your life’s mission and move you toward the best life and career that you deserve. Our coaching fees and services are flexible and meet a broad array of client financial and coaching needs. All Life and Career Planning LLC coaches are experienced and certified in the Life and Career Planning Model© and serve as your accountability partner. To inquire about working with a coach, click here.

Take the Quiz -10 Ways to Know You are Ready for a Personal and Professional Strategic Plan

We all know that effective organizations continually review, evaluate, and refine their action plans for success through a process called “strategic thinking and planning.” The CEO and others in the organization periodically take a candid look at the company’s strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and challenges, finances, and competitive set in a changing marketplace to plan for action to better control their future. Good companies are also opportunistic. They look for those actions that can be taken now to improve their positions.

Create a strategic plan for your own life

But what about you? How ironic that this activity happens all the time in our workplaces, yet few consider the same approach or model for their own lives. Our Life and Career Planning Model© takes this observation to its logical next step: the need to create a strategic plan for one’s life while being assertive about the opportunities that arise each day.

Do you know if you’re ready to seriously think about your life and career and to move both in a positive forward direction? Take this quiz and find out -

1. Do you have a personal mission or purpose statement that is documented?

__Yes __ No

2. Do you have key relationships in your life, people who tell you what you need to hear not what you want to hear?

__Yes __ No

3. Do you believe you live a balanced life?

__Yes __ No

4. Can you describe your top five personal values?

__Yes __ No

5. Do you have any toxic relationships in your life and have a plan to deal with them?

__Yes __ No

6. Do you know your personal and professional strengths?

__Yes __ No

7. Do you know what areas in your life require personal and career development?

__Yes __ No

8. Are the culture and values of where you work or volunteer compatible with what you know about yourself?

__Yes __ No

9. Do you have a financial plan?

__Yes __ No

10. Do you have a documented description of the next position to which you aspire?

__Yes __ No

The Life and Career Planning Model© will get you thinking and on track to move you confidently forward.

If you can say yes to seven or more of these questions, you’re in good shape for thinking ahead and our Life and Career Planning Model© is the tool you now need. If you said no to most of these questions, there are many things you haven’t thought about but should. The Life and Career Planning Model© will get you thinking and on track to move you confidently forward.

Our book is rated 4.5 stars on Amazon. Click here to buy the book.

If you would like more information about the Life and Career Planning Model©, you will find it fully explained in our book Time To Get Real!. This model is the framework for developing your own life and career plan. Should you choose to create your own plan, we suggest that you consider some amount of personal coaching that can help you to discern and activate your life’s mission and move you toward the best life and career that you deserve. Our coaching fees and services are flexible and meet a broad array of client financial and coaching needs. All Life and Career Planning LLC coaches are experienced and certified in the Life and Career Planning Model© and serve as your accountability partner. To inquire about working with a coach, click here.

The Benefits of Engaging a Mentor

A key relationship is a highly important connection to an individual with whom you can share your innermost thoughts and plans, whether about your life or career. In our book Time To Get Real!, we describe in our chapter about relationships that a person serving this function in your life, when asked, provides advice and counsel on any problem or decision with which you needed help. This person tells you what you need to hear, even if you don’t want to hear it. They care about you, they seem to understand you, and they want the best for you and your future.

In the professional world, a mentor can serve as a key relationship to help empower you to explore career options that may have been previously unimaginable and provide access to opportunities. A mentor can also help you navigate workplace challenges. In fact, a mentor can help and support you in numerous ways and according to an article in the Washington Post, those benefits include:

“Honest feedback - Being able to accurately identify your personal strengths and weaknesses is necessary for your professional growth. A mentor will be able to offer honest feedback related to your performance, which will highlight areas in which you excel and those that need improvement. While a Yes Man might do wonders for your ego, they will only hinder the development of essential leadership skills.

A mentor will be able to offer honest feedback related to your performance, which will highlight areas in which you excel and those that need improvement.

Accountability - It’s one thing to let yourself down, and it’s an entirely different thing to disappoint someone else who has given you their time and support in order to help you succeed. A mentor will hold you accountable for your actions, and that makes it more difficult for you to give up or slack on achieving your goals. What it boils down to is—you’ll care more about your progress when you’re not the only one who cares.

Increased chances of getting a raise/promotion - According to statistics compiled by Sun Microsystems in a study following 1,000 employees over a five-year period, those who received mentoring were 20 percent more likely to get a raise than their peers who chose not to participate. Additionally, mentees were promoted five times more often than those employees without mentors. This benefit alone should provide all the justification needed to seek out a workplace mentor.”

How to Find a Mentor

When contemplating people in your life who may be a good candidate for a mentor, think about those who are ahead of you in terms of their careers or professional growth. Another way to identify potential mentors is to find individuals who have the position you would like to grow into in the future.

Here are some specific ideas from an article from Indeed.com:

“Search your network - There are several places you can begin searching for mentors. Some examples include family connections, professional associations, your workplace, nonprofit organizations, local businesspeople, and volunteer groups. When searching for a mentor, look for inspirational and successful people in your life. Before someone will mentor you, they will likely need to see your potential in the industry, as well as your willingness to work hard and succeed.

Ask for a meeting - The best way to reach out is usually by sending a short email. Share one or two things you admire about their work, then tell them a little about yourself, why you’re reaching out, what you would like to learn from them, and wrap it up with your ask.

Explain why you selected them and how much you value their expertise - When you can make a clear case for what you want from a mentor relationship and why you are asking this individual to become your mentor, you are more likely to receive a positive response. If your potential mentor seems uncomfortable or skeptical, it's best to step back and keep looking. Even if they want to, they might also simply not have the time or capacity to offer you effective mentorship at that time. A good mentor must be invested and excited for it to be mutually beneficial.”

How to be a good mentee

After you successfully form a relationship with your mentor, it is important to maintain it through regular contact. You will want to set up ongoing meetings or phone calls at a mutually agreeable interval. You will want to be clear about your goals and your expectations of the relationship. During meetings, ask questions, request guidance, and learn from your mentor as much as possible. Be respectful and show up to meetings on time and express your appreciation for their time and support.

When mentors offer constructive guidance and criticism, be prepared to accept, and implement the guidance into your professional life. During your next meeting, provide feedback to your mentor about how these changes are going. Having a mentor as a key relationship is a great way to help you navigate your career path to achieve success.

Our book is rated 4.5 stars on Amazon. Click here to buy the book.

If you would like more information about key relationships, both personal and professional, we recommend reading chapter four in our book Time To Get Real!. Having strong key relationships in your life is one component of the Life and Career Planning Model© featured in the book. This model is the framework for developing your own life and career plan. Should you choose to create your own plan, we suggest that you consider some amount of personal coaching that can help you to discern and activate your life’s mission and move you toward the best life and career that you deserve. Our coaching fees and services are flexible and meet a broad array of client financial and coaching needs. All Life and Career Planning LLC coaches are experienced and certified in the Life and Career Planning Model© and serve as your accountability partner. To inquire about working with a coach, click here.

Make the Most of the New Year - How to Develop a Personal Vision Statement

In the previous blog entitled Make the Most of the New Year - Design Your Future and Develop a Personal Vision Statement, we explained the importance and benefits of developing a personal vision statement. This blog focuses on how to develop your personal vision statement.  It may seem intimidating to peer into a future three or five years from now and write a vibrant account of your personal and professional life.

This Forbes article offers guidance for this process, “In order to start, you need to reflect on who you are, what matters most to you, your values, goals, desires and more.

When creating your personal vision statement, you want to avoid thinking about limitations. This vision should not be based on what others think or say, how much money you have, what you own or do not own, nor where you’re at today in your professional life.

When writing your vision statement, you don’t need to know how you will achieve your goals or fulfill your personal vision today. These answers will come with time.”

How to write a personal vision statement

In our book, Time To Get Real! we suggest you think in a more vivid fashion about your future. So, let’s say that your life to date is represented as a car driving on a specific road. That road falls behind you. In front of you is the road that you’re going to be traveling in the future. It includes all the choices and decisions you will make as you drive your life forward. When you deploy your life and career plan based on the Life and Career Planning Model© found in our book Time To Get Real!, it becomes the engine to drive you down that road. Farther in the distance there’s a hill that turns into a mountain and at the top of the mountain is your personal vision. That is what things will look like for you when you arrive.

In our book, Time To Get Real! we suggest you think in a more vivid fashion about your future. So, let’s say that your life to date is represented as a car driving on a specific road. That road falls behind you. In front of you is the road that you’re going to be traveling in the future. It includes all the choices and decisions you will make as you drive your life forward.

As you write your personal vision statement, consider the following: for your career, note the type of position you will have, type of organization you will be working in, amount of expected compensation and benefits, the culture of the organization in which you will be working, the type of work you will be doing, the kind of relationships you expect to have, the geographic area in which you will work, and so on.  Also include a description of your life/work balance--how you spend the minutes, hours, days of your life at that point. Will you be cultivating your interests? What are they? What aspects of your life will be providing joy? What is the impact of this new stage of your life on your personal mission statement and values? Have there been any changes in your personal relationships and family? What are they? Does your current work position place you on the correct path to achieve your vision? Most importantly, if you imagine yourself stepping back and looking at the personal vision that you are writing now, which describes a time in the future as if you were actually there, would it make you feel satisfied and happy that you have arrived in that place?

This may sound like a daunting task, however, we know a few things from our coaching of individuals in all age groups. First, once you get started you will find it difficult to stop. You will want to know what your future looks like. Second, if you need help, our book Time To Get Real! takes you through the process of developing your vision statement as well as a strategic personal life and career plan. Finally, experienced coaches are here for you and can be your accountability partner.

The road that you are going to travel to your personal vision may not always be straight. It may have side streets down which you are forced to venture. For example, you’re squarely on the road toward your vision and you suddenly lose your job. You may have to take a new position in the short term that takes you off your main path. It may not be the right “next job” for your personal vision. Or illness rather than job loss derails you. No matter what occurs, keep trying to find your way back to your main path. The important thing to keep in mind is that if you know where the road is leading and recognize which events happening in your life will slow you down or move you off your road, you should be able to find your way back. If not, it’s then time to think about developing a new personal vision based upon the changes that have taken place in your life. Remember, your vision statement is a decision-making tool updated for life.

The Underpinning for a strong life and career plan

We find that your personal vision statement along with an understanding of your personal values are the underpinning for a strong life and career plan. Our book Time To Get Real! empowers you to develop both of these important aspects of your life. Should you choose to accept the help provided in our book Time To Get Real!, you will know where you are in your life and career, and by building your personal vision you will know where you want to end up at a specific point in time. The important thing to determine is how you are going to get there. You’re going to get there by having a strong life and career plan and activating it. The actions in the plan will lead to the achievement of your interim goals, which power you to the next stop along the road to your vision.

Our book is rated 4.5 stars on Amazon. Click here to buy the book.

We recommend that in addition to reading our book Time To Get Real! and working through the Life and Career Planning Model© that it provides, consider some amount of personal coaching that can help you to discern and activate your life’s mission and move you toward the best life and career that you deserve. Our coaching fees and services are flexible and meet a broad array of client financial and coaching needs. All Life and Career Planning LLC coaches are experienced and certified in the Life and Career Planning Model© and serve as your accountability partner. To inquire about working with a coach, click here.