Finding Balance in Your Life—and Making Peace with It

For this month’s installment of Finding Balance in Your Life—and Making Peace with It, I chose to focus on money and career. I included these two topics together because they go hand in hand for many of us. Our careers set the tone for our financial health, and, ideally, they bring us life satisfaction as well. That’s why it is important to be mindful of your career, the money you earn, and how these factors impact each other and contribute to your overall well-being. But bringing these areas into balance is not always easy. So, read on to explore some of my thoughts on creating a money and career picture that works for you and your circumstances.

Balance Zone #2: Money and Career

In a perfect world, we would all be energized by and engaged in our careers, and they would help us thrive financially and build a great life. But in reality, it’s less common to love what you do and live comfortably on your own terms. For example: Maybe you’ve got a great job, but it takes away all your time and energy. Or you feel ho-hum about your work, but the paycheck is so great you can’t afford to leave. Or your career is thriving, but it’s time to overhaul your spending habits to meet some of your long-term goals. These examples are why we must stay mindful of our careers and our finances. This ongoing awareness helps ensure that we are 1) happy, or at least happy enough, with our current job, 2) able to cultivate rich lives outside of work, and 3) mindful of our spending and saving habits so we can be in charge of our life choices.

Before we begin, let me be clear that everyone’s circumstances are different. What may work well for one person or family may not be possible for another. But these practices can help anyone get a grasp on their immediate goals and start on the road toward a more intentional and abundant life. Read on to learn how to find greater balance in your career and finances.

Get started with a career/financial mental audit. Finding balance in any area always begins with getting very clear on where you are right now. Set aside a few minutes to get centered and ask yourself, Where am I, and where do I want to go from here? Think both in terms of your current job as well as your finances. Are you happy? Do you have unfulfilled work- or wealth-related goals? Are you unsure of your specific goals but certain that something is off? These types of questions can give you a clearer idea of what you might need to do to feel happier and more financially secure.

Seek financial harmony with your partner. If you are part of a couple, you probably had an honest discussion about money and financial goals before living together or getting married. But it’s important to consider both of your viewpoints on your finances throughout your relationship —especially since money is one of the biggest concerns for couples in relationships. It’s important that you’re both on the same page. Some questions to consider or discuss together:

• Are you supporting your partner financially? If so, is he or she taking on other responsibilities for your life together?
• Or does your partner make most of the income and your income goes toward travel, savings, or something else?
• Are you both comfortable with the current arrangement?
• Do you have similar or different mindsets when it comes to spending, saving, investing, etc.?

How you both feel about these issues and expectations is important; they can make or break the relationship if not agreed upon and lived up to.

Consider your work-life balance. Regardless of whether you are self-employed or work for someone else, it’s very easy for your work to take over your life. If you let it, your job can creep into other areas and disrupt your home and family life. This is especially true now that we are all so connected through cell phones and computers. Without setting appropriate boundaries, you may wind up fielding emails at midnight or logging on for a video conference on a Saturday morning. This advice will help you ensure that you maintain some reasonable boundaries on your time outside of work:

Set work hours and stick to them. Exceptions aside, do your best to arrive at work and leave around the same time each day.

Unplug. Turn off your cell phone and put away your computer after work hours are done.

Catch yourself. If you catch your mind wandering to a work-related issue outside of the office, gently stop those thoughts and tune back in to the present.

Learn to say no. It’s okay to respectfully decline additional work projects or say no to added responsibility from time to time. If you are being asked to go above and beyond frequently, it may be time to negotiate a raise or consider looking for a new job.

Learn to cope with work stress. Work-related stress can negatively impact your whole life. Explore stress management techniques like yoga, deep breathing, meditation, or even seek therapy to deal with these pressures.

No passion in your career? Find it outside of work. Not everyone finds deep career fulfillment in their day job. If your work life is less about passion and more about a paycheck, there is still hope for happiness and balance. Explore your interest in blogging, or pottery, or woodworking (or whatever!) in your free time. And be sure you don’t hold back! If your passion project makes you happy, then you deserve to do it wholeheartedly. And remember, in time you may be able to segue your passion project into a money-making operation if you choose.

Live by a “mindful spending” philosophy. Everyone’s budgets, needs, and wants are a little different. However, almost everyone benefits from being mindful of their spending, no matter their income. Obviously, there are commonsense reasons for living well within your means—namely being able to pay your bills—but the bigger reason people should conserve their money is that it gives them choices. Committing to mindful spending means you can save up a cushion for whatever situation comes your way. Craving a career change? You can afford to take time off and learn new skills with this mindset. Want to pick up and move across the country? Or retire five years earlier than planned? Or build onto your home so an aging parent can move in? It’s more possible than you think when you make conscious everyday decisions to save wisely.

Do an audit of where your money goes. Periodically give your finances a careful look to determine if any of your budget is going toward things you no longer value. Thanks to automatic payment systems, those unused or unwanted subscription services or memberships could be siphoning away your money without your noticing. Also remember that what you once valued may no longer be so important to you, so identify which services you need versus those you still pay for out of habit. A good rule of thumb is, if you no longer use it, get rid of it. Along the same lines, look at the brands you do business with and research to see if there are less expensive options available. You might be able to find a better deal than the one you currently have. 

Figure out what matters most and spend more on that. Take some time to establish your priorities and use them to guide your discretionary spending. These values will be different to everyone. If you value staying current on the culture and art scene, you may choose to buy season tickets to the opera but opt to dine out less often. If you live for travel, you can save for yearly trips abroad but forgo gym memberships or cycling classes. Or maybe you give yourself at-home pedicures so you can splurge on designer shoes.

If you need it, get some outside help. Never underestimate the power of hiring an expert to help you take that next career or financial step. They give you fresh perspective and can be great motivators when you feel stuck. If you have job dissatisfaction, a career coach can help you make a plan to develop new skills or change direction. If you need help setting or reaching a money-related goal, a trusted financial advisor can help you make some realistic strides toward the outcome you desire. Remember that time is your most precious resource, so if you know you need some direction, make that phone call today. It could change your life, and, I promise, you are worth it.

Above all, remember that no amount of money or career success can buy you real happiness. You have to cultivate your own happiness by living richly. And anyone can live richly no matter what they do for a living. It’s about extracting whatever joy you can from your work and making sure that your life outside of work is full of love and meaning as well. If you can do that, you are already on the road to greater balance.