How to Create Balance in Chaotic Times | Jack Canfield

How balanced are you feeling these days? Do you feel like you have a good work life balance right now, or do you feel like your life has become a bit of a chaotic mess? Well, today I'd like to share some tips on how to create more balance in your life so you can enjoy more peace, calm and clarity and find the energy and focus you need to thrive. Now. If you're like most people, you've probably been thrown off your regular routine by the current pandemic. Many of you are trying to work from home for the first time ever. Moms and dads are trying to work while making sure their kids are getting their homework done. It's even more challenging for parents with really young children. And suddenly everyone's had to become an expert on Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp, and Facebook and Instagram Live, and we're having to juggle new and unfamiliar tasks while living through a global crisis. And that can leave you feeling incredibly unbalanced. And when you're unbalanced, it's hard for you to focus and think straight. Think about being on the deck of a boat in a stormy ocean. It's hard to keep your attention fixed on the horizon when you're clinging to the mast and praying not to be thrown overboard. But no matter how rocky the waves are or how strong the wind is blowing, you will do a better job of surviving the storm if you do find your balance and stay focused on your most important goals. So about a month ago, my wife, Inge, came to me and said, jack, you're doing too many podcasts and interviews for your new Success Principles workbook. And and you're participating in too many online summits, helping everyone else get out of their fears and into pivoting their mindset and their business practices to successfully get through the coronavirus shutdown. And I was. And she said she needed more regular time with me, scheduled time she could count on and that I would be committed to. And she was also worried about my health because I was getting up very early to work with people in Europe and also staying up late developing customized sly shows for some of them. And so we created a schedule that included me coming to bed by 10pm at night and snuggling with her as we fell asleep. We also agreed to a regular dinner time of 6:30pm to 7:30pm we also agreed that we would get up at the same time, 6:30am and meditate, exercise, and then have breakfast together, because I was often going to bed later and getting up later and we were missing each other. As a result of that in the mornings, and I was cutting my morning exercise a little short too. So we built in time for walks before dinner three days a week, Sundays totally off together, and times each week to call my oldest son and my 7 year old grandson who lives in Brooklyn. And I also committed to regular time for lunches and times for during the day where we'd take a 10 minute break and either sit by our pool or get a little sun or to walk around the property and get some fresh air. And the result? I and we have much more balance in our lives than we did before that meeting. But the point is that it takes intentional planning and conversation with the other people involved to create that level of balance. So here are my tips on how to bring more balance into your life no matter what is going on in the world around you so you can thrive during this time of challenge and crisis. Now my first tip is to look for ways to add more structure to your life. One of the things that's making us feel more imbalanced is the fact that our days are mostly all the same now. With so much never ending sameness and so much more potential for distraction or boredom, it can be easy to let the whole day slip by without accomplishing what you wanted to get done. Now the best way to stop that from happening is to create a daily schedule for everyone in the family that outlines the main tasks or actions you want to complete that day. This doesn't have to be a super detailed, rigid schedule. It's good to be flexible and gentle with yourself these days, but it should give you some shape and structure to your day and clearly separate work time from non work time. If you have kids, do what you can to make sure they understand and respect the division between your work time and and your family time. My friend Alex Mendozian wears a red baseball cap when he's in work mode and his kids know to treat it like he's at work in an office outside the house. But he also makes sure to take that cap off and schedule in time when he's available. And I recommend you put a weekly schedule on the refrigerator door in the kitchen that everybody can see that shows when breakfast is, when the kids are homeschooling or on their computer doing learning, when lunch is when, when adult work time is, when playtime is, when dinner is, when bedtime is, et cetera. Now some families have family exercise, yoga or meditation built into their schedules and also put on a schedule when it's okay to watch TV and play video games. And I also encourage you to make a clear distinction between work time, family time, and strictly you time, because all three of these things are incredibly important. Of course you need to work and you need to take care of your family, but you also need to take care of you. And that's how you get the strength and the energy to do everything you need to do for your work and for your family. So I strongly encourage you to schedule some time just for you every single day. Now, if you're super crazy busy right now, maybe your workload is huge and you're trying to take good care of the young children and help them with their schoolwork, you may not feel like there's any time left in the day to spend on yourself, but I promise you there is. Even if it's just 15 minutes. Taking that time to focus on yourself and do something that nourishes your mind, your body and your spirit could be as simple as taking a hot bath or taking 30 minutes to make yourself a cup of tea and read an uplifting book, or watch an inspiring video or a funny TV show, or simply to go out for a walk outside in the sunshine if you can. And whatever helps you feel the positive emotions you want to feel, whether that's feeling happy, peaceful, calm, optimistic or joyful, make sure you take time to do that. And as you have that experience, be conscious of yourself doing it. Really make an effort to focus and be present in that moment. Set aside your thoughts and worries about everything else that may be happening in your world and focus on you, your breath, your body and space, the sensations and emotions you're experiencing. This will help replenish your well and create a clearer sense of separation between you and what's truly real in this moment. And your fears and worries and everything else that may or may not be happening in your life. This, more than anything else, will increase your sense of balance, no matter how crazy the world may seem. And finally, I encourage you to get more sleep. You're living through a pandemic and dealing with unfamiliar circumstances and all of the heightened stress and anxiety can be exhausting. And if you have problems sleeping, do what you can do to solve those problems. If your mind's in overdrive and your thoughts are keeping you up all night, and do some yoga or meditation before you go to bed. I said in one of my earlier videos. There are lots of free instructional videos out there on YouTube. I also encourage you to check out something called Yoga Nidra, which is a type of deep relaxation that's so powerful they Say that one hour of yoga nidra, and that's spelled N I D R A if you want to look it up, is equal to six hours of sleep. You can find that information about how to do that on YouTube. And it's so important and so valuable because your body, your mind and your spirit needs to rest and to rejuvenate. And when you feel truly rested, you're going to have so much more energy and so much more resilience to get through the day. And that too will help you feel more balanced and more calm in your life. You know, I also recently discovered the power of essential oils in creating peace and balance in your life. And there are two that I use regularly that are helping me and my wife, Inga. One's called Peace and Calm and another is called Stress Away. And if you want to know more about that, just send an email to oilsackcampfield.com and and we'll make sure to get some information to you. So this week, what I'd like you to do is one small thing that will bring more balance into your life. Introduce more of a daily schedule into your life. Create some new household rituals that help everyone understand when is work time and when is playtime. Set aside 15 minutes every day to focus just on you and make a commitment to go to bed 30 minutes to an hour earlier every night and get some more sleep. I guarantee if you do these things, you're going to feel a huge difference in your peace of mind and your sense of well being almost immediately. And when you're more at peace with yourself and the world, you'll find it so much easier to experience the joy, the abundance and the fulfillment you crave, no matter what's going on in the world around you. Let me know what you think in the comments. So thanks again for watching. And remember, you can achieve anything you could imagine in life. It just takes you taking that first step. Now. If you find this video helpful, please 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 exercises and tools for creating more balance in your life. Make sure to visit jackcampfield.com and check out the links in the description below.