walking the talk, with balance

there was a bit of a flurry of emails today over a project dio diogenes is working on. some of these emails weren’t exceedingly friendly – but one stood out in its civility and straightfordwardness. so of course i had to immediately go and check that person out.

it turned out to be lisa gates, who describes herself as “the crazy glue on the soles of your sneakers that keeps you committed to your book, your project, your big idea”. her blog, design your writing life, looks like she’s more than up to that promise of tenacity.

as someone in a similar business – she’s a coach, i’m more of a counsellor, we’re both writers – of course i was curious to see what she’s up to and i have to say, she has some of the best ideas i’ve seen on a blog in quite a while.

one of the ingenious things she does is to very persuasively invite people to submit comments not on her blog but on their own web sites.

so here i am, with a reply to some interesting questions on her post 10 signs of work-life balance blow-out and 10 inquiries for getting it back.

great “signs” and great questions, lisa!

a little while ago i realized that one of my bigger motivators is to walk the talk. if i have a hunch that it would be a great idea for a client to do something, i want to be prepared to do the same thing, or whatever the equivalent is in my life.

balance-type questions, are, of course, something that i often discuss with my clients. so let’s see what happens when we reverse roles and i walk the talk by answering such questions. let’s take these two:

what two or three actions could you take right now that would create the most impact on your wellbeing?

  • go outside for a walk or a bit of gardening (it’s absolutely gorgeous right now, and i can make the time to do it)
  • do the workout that i missed this morning
  • think of one way i could get more magic in my life, and at least do the first step in making it happen

what three things do you do in your daily life that have absolutely no relevance to work or life fulfillment?

i’m happy to say that i can’t think of a single thing that would clearly match this description. however, here are a few things that i do too much of or am inefficient about:

  • check my email
  • surf the internet
  • work past the ability to concentrate

thanks, lisa, for inviting this dialogue with your graciousness and creativity, and thanks, dio, for introducing me to lisa.

off to the great outdoors now!

(this article was included in the 23rd total mind and body fitness carnival)

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