Yes, I am parked behind this computer for many hours every day. Yes, the yard is untouched, except that we have trimmed the lawn to a uniform height and are putting up with the growing patches of brown. Yes, my “holidays” have been put on hold, and when I go away with the kids I bring a computer and an internet stick. Should I take a look at finding some balance in my life?

Let me pass along an analogy I’ve found incredibly helpful in times like this. Many lifestyle coaches advise us to achieve balance in our life. So we feel we need to carefully plan each day with the right amount of work, rest, “quality time” and so on. It’s fine advice if you have a routine that you have set – great for maintaining a pattern that is already clicking along.

But what about when you are giving birth to something new? As a mother of three, let me tell you that during labour there is no question of taking a break and finding balance. You are in it for the long haul and until that baby comes out, you’re not doing anything else. People who are adept at starting new ventures know that giving birth to a new idea is much the same. At times like this, the best you can hope for is harmony.

By thinking of harmony instead of balance, you give yourself permission to let different “instruments” take center stage in your life for a time, and it’s ok if sometimes the effect of the moment is a high-volume guitar solo, or an aria. That solo will last a moment or two, then it ends and something else becomes the focus of the music. Harmony expects rests along with the melody, and crescendos as well as quiet. A piece of music that is “balanced” throughout risks blandness. Achieving harmony in your life requires you to look at the bigger patterns, and plan beyond the day-to-day. Harmony sometimes demands all-out performance, then a period of recovery. And it seems to me that harmony will create a more dynamic result than carefully-maintained balance.

So the next time a well-meaning friend tells you that you need more balance in your life – ask them to look at the bigger picture. Maybe you are creating something bigger, and more harmonious, than they can see from close up.

About Catherine Novak:

Catherine draws from over 25 years of communications and adult education experience. A graduate of University of Victoria, she’s lived and worked in locations as diverse as London UK and Lillooet BC, and returned to Victoria – her spiritual home – in 2004. Catherine is owner of WordSpring, specializing in working and social media consulting. As well, she teaches social media strategy and tactics in independent seminars and at Royal Roads University.

Visit Catherine Novak

Photo Credits

Man throwing rock in water © Gil Namur

Guitar Player from MS Word Clip Art Collection

Article © Catherine Novak, 2009

© Gil Namur, 2009

Do you feel safe? Is this person acting rational? Isn’t there a better way? After all, you can drive too, and then maybe at least one person can get some rest (because you can’t sleep if you are worried about your driver nodding off and plummeting down the hill).

On a road trip, it seems sensible to share the driving and make sure that everyone arrives safe and refreshed. But wait – there’s a business analogy behind this road trip scenario as well.

Face it – owning a business is a lot like going on a long road trip. You’ve got goals, a timeline and yes, passengers in your “car”. They are often your employees, or other people important to bring on the journey. It’s true that nobody knows the car like you do, and you’ve been driving it a long time. But sometimes giving the wheel to one of your trusted fellow passengers can be an excellent business decision as well – especially when they know the area they are travelling in at least as well as you do.

A business woman I respect did exactly that a number of years ago, when she and her husband ran a recycling business. They had a group of employees working for them. Most were in their 20s, and they were the route drivers, the frontline people, the sorters, and the business developers. Between them, the employees managed the day-to-day affairs of the company. But the owners’ business colleagues still shook their heads when the policy decisions of the company were handed over to the employees to discuss and implement, in a weekly staff meeting where the staff literally made the rules. “You are giving up that much control over how your company is run? What are you, crazy?” “They are just kids – what do they know about running your company?”

In fact, the owners thought it was the best business decision they’d made for that company. Their staff felt more than listened to – they actually had real input, and could make a positive difference in their work environment. The staff knew where the inefficiencies were, and found ways to become more productive. Staff turnover decreased (in a demographic rather notorious for staying at a job only as long as necessary), job satisfaction increased… and so did profits. The owners sold that company a few years later for a substantial sum of money. And they attributed much of their success to the input and improvements generated by their employees.

So much lip service is given to the idea that “our staff is our greatest resource”. If you believe it to be true, tap into that resource – and do it often. Not only will it free you up from some of the burden of solitary leadership, it will bring new ideas into your business, improve the skills of the people who work for you, and probably bolster your bottom line.

And you might stand a better chance of getting where you want to go safely!

About Catherine Novak:

Catherine draws from over 25 years of communications and adult education experience. A graduate of University of Victoria, she’s lived and worked in locations as diverse as London UK and Lillooet BC, and returned to Victoria – her spiritual home – in 2004. Catherine is owner of WordSpring, specializing in working and social media consulting. As well, she teaches social media strategy and tactics in independent seminars and at Royal Roads University.

Visit Catherine Novak

Photo Credits

Woman driving from MS Word Clip Art Collection

Article © Catherine Novak, 2009

© Gil Namur, 2009

Imagine that some wish-granting genie has stepped out of your dreams and into your living room, where you’ve been reading about famous and accomplished people while the TV bleats on in the background.

“I’ve come to grant you a wish,” the genie says.  “You can go back to any previous point in your life and start again from there.  It’s like a ‘system restore’ for your life story.  Just tell me how far back to rewind and when to press ‘play’”.

Would you do it? How far back would you go?  What would you like to “do over”?

A programme on CBC Radio One asked that question last week, and it really got me thinking. It could be quite an opportunity to go back and get some things right.  I mean, here I am in the middle of my life, still working very hard just to make ends meet.  I’ve come out of more years than I would like of broken relationships, financial struggle and career drift.  Surely I’m a good candidate for a do-over.

Except that as I went backwards through my life, year by year, I couldn’t point to any one point where I could say “Yep, it was all pretty much downhill from there.  Let’s go back and play it again and this time, I will make better decisions.”  For instance, I spent a bunch of my parents’ and my own money studying a subject (teaching English as a Second Language) that I put to good use for a whole six weeks.  Should I go back and change my major?  Change my school?   While my studies were only marginally important to my career, wouldn’t I be missing out on all the things I did outside of class, which ended up being much more central to the person I’ve become?  How would I have met the man who became my husband?

And what about him?  We dragged each other through hell for much of the sixteen years that we were together.  Together, we were less than the sum of our parts.  Except that we produced three incredible sons.  If I did anything right in my life, it was having my boys.  Some of those same struggles shaped me in important, life-enhancing ways, too.

Nope, if I’m going to press “reboot” anywhere, it is going to have to be right here, right now.  I am the result of all my decisions, good and bad.  To move backward and wipe some of the record clean would be to negate much of the person that ALL my experiences have turned me into.

On the other hand, the future stretches out before me with not much more than a suggested outline and a number of possible trajectories.  This present moment might be the best place to say “OK, reboot”.  And from here, given the resources I have on hand and the experience I’ve built up, I can make the decision to approach each fork in the road with as much of a fresh perspective as I can muster.  If I can make good use of what the Buddhists call “beginner’s mind”, I stand more of a chance of creating a life that remains full of possibility, hope and change.

About Catherine Novak:

Catherine draws from over 25 years of communications and adult education experience. A graduate of University of Victoria, she’s lived and worked in locations as diverse as London UK and Lillooet BC, and returned to Victoria – her spiritual home – in 2004. Catherine is owner of WordSpring, specializing in working and social media consulting. As well, she teaches social media strategy and tactics in independent seminars and at Royal Roads University.

Visit Catherine Novak