Jack Canfield shares four practical steps for work-life balance: clarify your priorities, schedule time for what matters, negotiate your commitments, and protect personal time. He uses an anecdote about Jeff Hoffman and gives concrete examples you can apply right away.
Questions this video answers
More than 100 countries.
Chapters
Hi, I'm Jack Canfield and today I want to give you a few tips for creating a better work life balance so you can accomplish all your professional goals while still enjoying a fulfilling personal life. Most of us struggle with finding that perfect balance between our professional careers and the many roles we play in our personal lives as a spouse, a parent, a sibling, or a friend. And sometimes it may feel like one aspect of your life has to be sacrificed for the other. But the truth is, with a bit of focus and planning, you can have it all. A meaningful job, a thriving career or business, fulfilling relationships, good health, and a satisfying personal life. And today I'd like to share four powerful suggestions for how you can do just that. My first tip is to take the time to sit down and define what's most important to you. You need to do a little bit of soul searching in order to get really clear on what you truly value most in life 30 years from now. What accomplishments and experiences are going to matter most to you? What goals will you be most proud of achieving? What memories will you cherish the most? You know, there's no right or wrong answer here. The things that are most important to you will be different from what's most important to me and everyone else in the world. And that's okay. Now that said, I'm guessing your list of most important things won't include stuff like arguing with strangers on Twitter or endlessly scrolling through Facebook posts, right? So I encourage you to take the time to identify what's truly most important to you and determine how much time you are currently spending on those things compared to the amount of time you spend on the things that don't fulfill you, that don't really matter at all. And then look for opportunities to direct more of your time and attention toward the things that matter most. For example, if you want to spend more quality time with your family, find out if your employer offers you any options that might give you more time at home. Many employers have become more flexible about allowing people to work from home or to follow a non traditional schedule such as working four 10 hour days instead of a regular five day week so you can have three days off instead of the usual two day weekend. It's possible that such a solution could work for you. Or if writing a book is important to you, but you spend most evenings aimlessly surfing online, make the decision to spend that time writing instead. I guarantee it will add more fulfillment and more purpose into your life. Now, once you're clear on what's important to you, the next question is how do you create more of it in your life now? I recently met Jeff Hoffman, the co founder and CEO of Priceline.com at an event I spoke at in Los Angeles. He was trained as an engineer and in his first job he realized he wasn't happy. And so he asked himself what he really wanted to do and the answer was travel. So he realized he needed to create or find a job that would allow him to travel. So he helped invent and then install the ticketing kiosks that you see in airports when you insert your credit card and it prints out your ticket. And soon he found himself flying all over the world, installing them in airports in Europe, Africa, South America and Asia. And then he created Priceline.com, one of the major players in the travel industry. Jeff told me he's now visited more than 100 countries. And that leads me to my second suggestion, which is to create situations and a schedule that gives you more time to focus on what matters to you the most. But it's not enough to just schedule the time for it. You have to stick to that schedule no matter what. If working on your next big business project is a priority, then schedule the time you need to bring it to fruition. But if spending quality time with your family or going out with friends or relaxing at home with a good book or indulging in your favorite hobbies is also important to you, then be sure to schedule specific blocks of time for that as well. Don't tell yourself you'll only attend to your personal needs once your business goals are reached, because as you probably know, as soon as you reach one goal, another is going to appear on the horizon, and another, and another, and pretty soon you'll find yourself always putting your personal needs second to your professional ones. And that doesn't make for a very balanced life. So take a look at your schedule and identify those things that you're currently not spending enough time and attention on, and then figure out a time and a way to add them to your life. Do you constantly miss evening workouts because you always get home late from work? One option is to wake up 45 minutes earlier and do your workouts in the morning instead. Are you missing your child's sporting events or performances? Because you never know when they're going to be until the last minute and then you can't get away to go to them. Well, plan ahead and find out when they're scheduled and then add them to your schedule and book all of your other commitments around those times. Has it been ages since you or your spouse or partner went out for a romantic dinner because you never have the energy to leave the house, start going to bed earlier so you can get more sleep. Then make a reservation at your favorite restaurant and then keep that reservation. If something really is important to you, I guarantee there's always a way to make it happen. Which brings me to my next point. Negotiate your time Now. Once you start scheduling your time to focus on your biggest priorities, you may need to get certain people on board with your plans, and that may require some negotiation on your part. For example, if you want to spend more time at home with your family, you you may need to let your boss know that your plate is full and you can't take on any more projects at the moment. If your volunteer obligations are preventing you from finishing that book you've been working on, maybe it's time to scale back on those obligations until your dream of becoming a published author has been realized. If your parents expect you to visit them every single weekend and you're going crazy because you haven't had any time for yourself in weeks, make the decision to cut back the visits to once or twice a month and enlist your siblings or other people to pick up the slack. And finally, my last point is to remember that the balance you seek is not just between work and home or family, but also between work and home or family and you. It's not enough to simply divide your time between your job and meeting the needs of your family. You also need to schedule time just for you time to be alone, to meditate, to read, to think, to play the guitar, to take a long hot bath or to sit in the sauna or take a walk alone in the woods or sit in the sun and simply do nothing or do anything else you love to do now. For example, in my home, Thursday nights are my special night to do whatever I want. I can watch as much Thursday night football as I want, or I can stay up late working on a new book, or I can surf the web or curl up on the couch and watch a good movie. Having one night to myself where my wife and I both give me permission to do whatever I want has added a lot more balance and happiness in my life. Now here's your homework to complete after watching this video. Take the time to define what's most important to you and then create a schedule that allows you to spend more time and put more attention on the things you value most and then take whatever action steps are necessary to make that schedule your new reality. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. I'd love to know your thoughts, so thanks for watching. And remember, nothing in your life will change for the better until you do. Now, if you found this video helpful, make sure you like it, share it with a friend who may need it, and subscribe to my channel for more videos like this one. And for some additional resources on work life balance, visit my website@jackcampfield.com and thanks again for watching.
