Episode 1
[00:00:00] Welcome to the Aligned and Thriving podcast, where we explore the journey to achieving a fulfilling and balanced life. I'm your host, Judith Bowtell. I'm a career coach, and I'm passionate about helping you find harmony between your work and your personal life. Thank you for tuning in to our special series on finding work life balance through your values.
[00:00:27] In this first episode, we'll dive into what this concept really means and how our upcoming program can guide you towards achieving it. So let's get started. Just one little bit before we dive in.
[00:00:40] I've been a career coach for over 10 years, working with clients from various walks of life. My journey started when I realised how crucial it was to align my career more with my personal values. And this realisation transformed my life, and I'm here to help you do the same.
[00:00:58] What is work life balance? And why is it so important? In today's world, many of us struggle to juggle our professional responsibilities with our personal lives. This can lead to stress, burnout, and a feeling of dissatisfaction. Work life balance is about finding the right equilibrium where you can thrive in both areas. Without compromising your well being. Achieving this balance doesn't mean an equal division of time between your work and personal life. Instead, it means prioritising what's important to you, and making intentional decisions that align with your values. It's about quality, not quantity. It's certainly not about perfection. It's about trial and error, and giving things a go to see if that might work better for you. So we've started a program and it's going to launch in July and it's designed to help you achieve this balance by understanding and aligning with your core values. This program is structured into six modules, each focusing on different aspects of achieving a balanced life. We start with working out what this balanced life looks for you. Then we look at your skills and what you have to offer the market. We look at what's the things that you enjoy most doing. And the things that you would rather not do more. Of course, we work with identifying your values. And then we set some meaningful goals. We set a destination and we move on to practical strategies and ongoing support to help you stay on track. So let's break down what you'll expect from each module.
[00:02:44] Our first module is actually about finding your happy space. It's about defining what is an ideal working day for you, moment by moment, hour by hour. It's not about huge goals. It's not about directions. It's not about titles. It's not about salary. It's about what sort of day makes you feel fulfilled and happy most of the time. So we do that as the sort of the guiding mindset for the program. That your day is your day. It works for you and it makes you feel content through most of the day.
[00:03:30] The second thing we do is that we look at your skills and your talents and your expertise and find out which of these are the things that make you feel most fulfilled and satisfied at work and which are the ones that you'd maybe rather not be doing so much of if you could design your perfect working life. We also look at the areas you want to develop, the things you want to learn. And all of this is about understanding how to get the balance within your working life. How to get the balance of areas where you feel safe and satisfied and like you're achieving things. Balanced against those areas that are more of a stretch. And perhaps push you a little bit out of your comfort zone. This is really the methodology that underlines a lot of this program. It's the idea of not chasing perfection, but about finding a balance that works for you.
[00:04:29] And then we get to the values. Once we've done this other work, we can really dig in. hone in on the values that speak to you. You've developed a way to connect to your values on an emotional level, not just a logical model. We've already been practicing how to find spaces that make you feel happy. That make you feel satisfied, that give you positive emotions like gratitude, harmony, peace, beauty, all those things, and they're the values that we want to find for you. We want to find your values as much as for guidance as they are for motivation. Values can really motivate you to find your best place and your best way of working. So that is a really critical part of the program, and we want you to spend some time there learning how to connect to your values and then how to bring that into the world.
[00:05:31] After that, we create a vision for your future life. And then we get you sailing towards that vision. If you work with me, you'll hear a lot about sailing and boats. It's really the best metaphor for the kind of work that we do. And in that we find the practical strategies that give us better work life balance. We discover techniques to manage our time, set boundaries and integrate our values into our daily life. Our values are like the motor on the boat that we use when outside inspiration or outside opportunities aren't as clear. We can always turn to our values to keep us moving along towards our overall direction.
[00:06:13] And then the program, as well as providing with this practical tips from me and the people I work with and the experts that I have based this program on, you also have the ongoing support and community of the Aligned and Thriving community. Aligned and Thriving is a way of connecting you with others who are on this same journey. So you get to share your experiences and gain support, not just from my team and me, but also from others. And that's a great way of learning. We don't know everything. We're basing this program on the evidence developed by other people and our own experiences, but we also really value everyone else in the program.
[00:06:56] So the goals of our program are simple yet really profound. First, we want to help you understand and prioritise your values. Knowing what truly matters to you is the foundation of a balanced life. And then next we equip you with the tools to create and maintain this balance. Finally, we foster a supportive community where you can share experiences and learn from others on the same journey.
[00:07:21] To give you a glimpse of what this program can do, let me share a couple of success stories. One of my clients, Sally, was struggling with feeling overwhelmed at work while missing out on family time. This is so common in the not for profit sector or the for purpose sector. You give your all to your organisation at your own personal cost and sometimes at the cost of your family. But through our program, Sally was able to identify that family and personal growth were her top values. She was able to make some changes to her work schedule. She learned how to set clear boundaries and found time for personal development activities. She did this by improving her communication techniques at work and at home. And the transformation was incredible. She now feels a lot more fulfilled and balanced, both at work and at home. Another client, Michael, realised that his value of creativity was being stifled in his current job. By recognising this, he sought opportunities that allowed him to express his creativity, starting at home and his own personal projects, and then bringing some of that into his work. This not only improved his job satisfaction, but really his own overall happiness. And eventually it led to him being able to take on some really challenging projects that he never before thought were possible.
[00:08:52] So now I'd like to invite you to participate in a brief reflection at the exercise. Take a moment to think about your own life. What are the activities or even moments that make you feel the most fulfilled? That is, the moments where you feel most like yourself and most satisfied with your life. It might be a moment at the dog park where your dog finally brings the ball back to you. It could be when you're sitting around the dinner table, eating something nourishing with your family and having a fantastic conversation at the end of the day. It could be when you close the door to your office and get on the bus to go home, and you can just not think about anything for a few moments because you know everything's been done. Or it might be when you finish a game of chess or a game of basketball or a game of netball or swimming or whatever your favorite physical activity is to do and you just feel like that was great. I really hit the mark there and that was fun. I would do that again in a moment if I had the energy. So just think about those moments of connection, those moments when you feel most yourself, those moments where you'd rather not be anywhere else than where you are now. Those moments when you are fully present to yourself and to what's around you. It might be by yourself on a beach. It might be with your friends going for a bushwalk. It could be being in a chapel. It could be being at a market. It doesn't matter. It's wherever you feel most yourself, most your true self and most fulfilled. And then when you're ready, just jot down a few thoughts or feelings that come to mind. This is the very first step towards understanding your values.
[00:11:10] So if you're intrigued by what you've heard so far, stay tuned for the next episode, where we'll dive deeper into each aspect of the program. In the next episode, we'll talk about understanding your personal values and why they are crucial for achieving work life balance. We'll share some tools and exercises that can get you started straight away.
[00:11:31] Don't forget to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. And visit our website at www. albanylane. com. au for more information and updates about the program. If you have any questions or topics you'd like us to cover, feel to reach out on social media, or via email at judith. Bowtell at albanylane. com. au Thank you for joining me today. Remember, achieving work life balance is a journey. It's not about perfection. It's not about numbers, but it's a way of moving forward in your life. And I'm here and my team is here to guide you every step of the way until next time, take care and keep striving for a balanced and fulfilling life.
[00:12:22] And this is Judith Bowtell signing off from Aligned and Thriving Podcast. See you in the next episode.