[A185]Achieve Work Life Balance

I'd like to boldly claim that all of us are leaders, regardless of the fact that many of us probably wouldn't dare call ourselves a leader. We often think of a leader as being an individual who runs a successful business, has a prestigious position in the community or is in the political spotlight. Yet, every one of us is a leader in our own right, whether we are aware of it or not. Leaders serve as a role model and example to others. We lead our children, our friends, clients, co-workers - even our spouses.

For most of us, our primary leadership role revolves around working for a living. And for many of us, one of the primary purposes of our work is to bring in enough money to support ourselves and/or our families. It's easy to give the majority of our time, attention and energy to our work. We're motivated to do this so that we receive a paycheck at the end of each month. We'll work hard to ensure that we meet project deadlines, often ignoring ourselves in the process. We often are too busy to live.

When making money becomes all about the end result, our actions and interactions at work become mechanical and lifeless. Our body shows up, but our soul is out to lunch. The magic is gone. We become robotic and lifeless. We can see this in our daily interactions with others--- the cashier at the check out stand, scanning the merchandise with barely a smile; the co-worker who's showing up just to collect retirement; the supervisor who no longer enjoys his or her job, yet is afraid to do something different. Or, closer to home - ourselves, as we rush frantically through the day, barely having enough time to stop and breathe.

Many of us fulfill our bottom-line and bring home a paycheck each month, but we do it in a manner that leaves us feeling ragged and just plain worn out.

Lifestyle Prosperity is about giving time and attention to the important things that fuel the soul and give us the energy and creativity to show up for work and life in a more powerful and inspired way. It's imperative that those of us who give so much to our careers learn how to powerfully fuel our personal lives. After all, it's our lifestyle that provides the creative juice and moneymaking energy for our careers.

Here are five steps you can take to start achieving a more prosperous lifestyle:

1. Get boldly authentic. Express yourself with honesty and integrity. Be willing to get honest and become aware of your true thoughts and feelings about certain situations. Start noticing the intuitive hunches and messages that your body is sending you. Do this by periodically stopping yourself at work to "get out of your head" and reconnect to see if you're feeling tense, tired or stressed.

2. Live deliberately. Get clear about your values and learn how to manage your time wisely. Make sure your choices about how you spend your time are in alignment with what you say is most important in your life. In other words, do you say that you value your health, but frequently fail to prioritize time to exercise because you're too busy working and dealing with urgent matters?

3. Be present and conscious. Resolve to fully show up for the relationships in your life - this includes your relationship with yourself, the clerk at the grocery store, the mail carrier, and your spouse and children. Be willing to listen to others without judgment, giving them the gift of your full attention without interrupting or planning what you want to say next. It's easy to become so preoccupied with our work that we neglect to truly connect with others and ourselves.

4. Give yourself free time. Give yourself the nourishing and indulgent gift of quality free time. Prioritize this as an optimal value in your life and make it just as important as your work. Make an effort to start planning more fun and free time. You'll feel like you've gifted yourself a brand new life.

5. Access inspiration and creativity. Don't resign yourself to living an uninspired life. Get in touch with inspiration and creativity. Do things that inspire and uplift you. You'll begin to get creative ideas for work and your personal life that will result in increased prosperity in all levels of your life.

Take a lifestyle prosperity micro-action step now.

Accept that you are a leader and a role model for others. Resolve to be the kind of leader who is willing to give time and energy, not only to your work, but to your lifestyle as well. Set the intention each day to achieve both financial and lifestyle prosperity so that you can make the most of this wild and precious gift of life. Become the kind of leader who lives life knowing there are other things that are important outside of work. Remember, when we die our in-box won't be empty. And when it's all said and done, it's the memories that we leave behind and the lives we touch that matter most, not how much time we spent in the office.