Living in Flow vs. Striving for Work-Life Balance

How many of you hard-working, goal & growth-oriented Business Owners have said:

• "I'm so tired"
• "I'm so busy"
• "I can't seem to catch my breath"

I’ve been there.

In the early days of my floral and event design business, I was constantly exhausted and overwhelmed, juggling all my responsibilities. I knew that way of living wasn't sustainable.

I needed to find a better way of navigating life, so I could be happier no matter what I was doing (whether at home or at work).

At the time, I didn’t know how to change my reality, but the idea of striving to achieve work/life balance seemed completely unattainable to me. With a growing business and 2 young children, my life was legit overwhelming.

You see, I think the idea of living life in balance is an illusion. 

To me, balance implies perfection, two sides of a scale being exactly the same. One side off, then you’re off.

It’s the idea that we’ll only be happy or content when we evenly distribute the hours in our day across the various areas of our lives, but life for a Business Owner rarely works that way.

I started diving into some personal growth work to find some relief, and I discovered a concept that resonated with me- the idea of striving to live in flow, instead of striving to achieve work-life balance.

Instead of focusing on evenly distributing my time, I began paying attention to the quality of how I spent it- am I doing things that give me energy or drain my energy?

Figuring out how to get more happiness or contentment out of life was all about figuring out how to manage that flow of my energy.

You see, to me, flow implies flexibility, like a natural back and forth, as needed.

Living in flow means moving through life with grace, not perfection.

As I learned more about this idea of flow, I started applying what I learned, taking small action steps every day to get more of it.

As the days grew into months, I had created a new way of navigating life that helped me manage all my responsibilities with more ease and grace.  I started experiencing positive changes and over time, I genuinely started to feel happier and more content, at work and at home!

So, my intention in today's blog article is to share what it’s like to live in flow and guide you through 3 simple steps you can take to start enjoying a little more flow in your life.

Let's dive in...

Step 1: Start Slow

When you want to make any significant change, it’s important to start with clarity.

To do that, try implementing a simple Reflective Practice. This is about giving yourself a few minutes each day to check in with yourself— where am I now and where do I want to be?

• Start by setting aside 10–15 minutes every day to reflect.
• Find a quiet place, grab a notebook, and ask yourself these three questions:
  • What were 3 highlights from yesterday?
    • Focus on moments that made you feel good or energized.
  • What were 3 challenges?
    • Identify what drained your energy or left you feeling stuck.
  • What are your top 3 priorities today?
    • These should be the things that matter most to you, not just what’s urgent.

Finding clarity can be simple for you, if you look at 3 basic things:  3 highlights and 3 challenges from your previous day, and your top 3 priorities, with action steps, for the day ahead.

Step 2: Let Go

Even with clarity, there will always be things that drain your energy and hold you back.

These things are called Tolerations— the things you’re putting up with, like a kink in your garden hose that stops the flow. To let go of these Tolerations...

• Start by making a list of everything you’re putting up with— both physical and emotional.
  • Maybe it’s clutter in your workspace, or maybe it’s your habit of chronic procrastination that’s causing constant frustration.
• Once you’ve identified these energy drains, focus on clearing one Toleration per week.
  • Start small, like fixing that squeaky door or taking 10 minutes to tidy up your cluttered closet.
• As you clear each Toleration, you’ll feel a sense of relief and get more positive energy flowing.
  • So, clear Tolerations consistently to keep your energy flowing in a positive direction.

When you have clarity and your energy is restored, you start to feel a positive shift in your overall mood, attitude and outlook on life. Whether you’re spending time at work or at home, you find yourself wanting to stay in that good-feeling place.

You’ve got momentum and you’re motivated.
 
You continue the Reflective Practice and you keep removing Tolerations – slowly but surely.  You keep taking actionable and intentional steps to do things that give you energy and keep your life flowing in a positive direction.
 
The bottom line is…when you spend your days driven by doing more of what energizes you and doing less of what drains you- you’re beginning to live in flow!

Step 3: Live in Flow

Now, the final step is all about helping you shine a bigger spotlight on what you can be doing to give you even more energy each day- naturally, with ease and without a lot of effort.

I’m talking about aligning more of what you do with your Personal Values.

• As part of your Reflective Practice, start noticing what lights you up.
  • What tasks feel effortless?
  • What brings you joy or fulfillment?
  • Whatever it is, start noticing common themes.

• Once you start noticing what you are doing that feels great, you’ll uncover your Personal Values!

  • For a deeper dive, visit the home page of my website to download the "Identifying Your Personal Values" Workbook for FREE!
• Once you identify them, intentionally incorporate more of those things into your day.
  • Your Personal Values might be creativity, adventure, connection, or excellence.
  • If you value creativity, carve out time to work on a passion project or find small ways to be creative in your daily tasks. You can even make your marketing tasks more fun, if you see them as creative.

Living in alignment with your Personal Values helps you live in flow, because you’re doing what feels good and comes naturally to you. 

Being happier, more fulfilled and more satisfied isn’t about everything being perfect or balanced. It’s about managing your energy flow using the 3 steps I shared today.

Yes, taking action does require some effort, especially at first. I promise you, it doesn’t have to be hard.  In fact, once you get started, it can be easy.
 
Remember, start slow. Take 10-15min each day and implement a Reflective Practice. Give yourself that personal feedback session. What feels great, what felt not so great and what matters most, to you, today?
 
And let go of what’s draining your energy. Identify those pesky kinks in your garden hose- those physical and the emotional Tolerations. Writing it down is a valuable step in the process, so just get started. Then, try to let go of one Toleration per week. Get a quick win and a boost of energy in the process!
 
And finally, start noticing what gives you energy and keeps the garden hose of goodness in full flow. Identify your Personal Values and align more of what you do every day to those Values.

The key is to take something you’ve read today, it can be just 1 thing, and put it into action in your life, so you can feel more focused, more energized, more optimistic- and you can start to enjoy more flow in your everyday life!
 

If you’re somebody who’s serious about creating a new way of navigating life, ready to ditch the idea of balance and find more flow, you may be serious about hiring a Coach to support your journey.

Follow this link to review my TRG Programs and read more about how I can help YOU.

Let's get to work and create more flow, satisfaction and fulfillment- in your life and in your business!