Stop buying all the new things to attain this myth.

You start your morning promptly at 6am after a perfect 8 hour sleep with a devotional, setting an intention and a morning lemon and honey water. Your coffee is hot when you drink it and you have time to get yourself ready in the morning. You get the kids out the door to school, kiss your spouse, and head to work. You work hard for about four hours, with some coffee breaks with Tanya in the break room. Your boss tells you how much your client liked your last presentation, and that you are probably getting an early promotion.

You work hard for another four hours before heading to pick up the kids- on time, no after school care for them. You help with homework, go to the gym for an hour long class, then com home and play outside with kids and make a 4 course meal for dinner. Your kids help you clean up, and you fold exactly one load of laundry and it gets put away. You have a chance to have an evening walk with the family before you put your kids to bed. Finally, you get some down time and a glass of wine with your spouse before bed.

While that day DOES sound LOVELY, it isn’t real. (and no, not just because it would take zero commute AND 20 hours of awake time). It isn’t real because the kids do not get out the door easy in the morning, your boss isn’t always appreciative of you, and it is practically impossible to get an hour of afternoon gym time AND make a fantastic meal for your family all before 9pm. 

It could be in the word, balance, that seems so off. Balance after all is an equilibrium in which both sides are stationary. Which cannot exist in life. Not only are there different seasons, but life as a constant state would be well, boring.

I know what you are thinking- why even talk about it if it doesn’t exist!? 

Honestly, what I have found stability in is like a lot of things: in threes. I always say if something bad happens to you, they come in waves of three. Same with something good (although the good always seems harder to find). 

If you could pick three things to do for the day, what would they be? One day it could look like drinking coffee while it is hot, go to the gym in the afternoon, and unwind with your spouse after dinner. The next day it could be waking up early to workout, having a full day at work and then cooking a nice meal with your family in the evening. One more day could look like starting with a devotional, leaving early from work to be able to do kid’s sports activities. And yet another option for a day could come from taking a day off of work to have a girl’s day with a best friend at a spa or restaurant. 

Of all the days that I described above, nothing overlaps.

Not one thing is repeated, yet they could signify some of your days. If you pick three priorities for each day, not only would your to do list seem way easier to manage, but you may actually find you have some time carved out for more. Maybe one slow day at work includes a lunch date with a friend, or a Saturday morning includes breakfast in bed with the kids. 

If we all adopted a mindset of a pendulum maybe we’d be a little less stressed. Priorities can shift week to week, day to day heck even hour by hour!

You may even just need to sit down and prioritize your monthly priorities. It is often said that we overestimate what we can do in a day, but underestimate what we can do in a year. I think we can all find stability in shrinking our priorities to three “tasks” each day. And remember, when you want to add one “task” to a day, it requires you to say NO to another. Stick with the rule of 3 my dear.

Does this resonate with you? Comment below three things that are on your priorities tomorrow!

Want to read more about how I find stability? Check out this blog post next…