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Restoring Work-Life Balance (But I Hate the Word "Balance"!) Work-life balance. Sounds nice, doesn't it? But let's be honest — balance is boring! Life isn't a flat line; it's ups, downs, twists, and turns. What we really want isn't balance… it's harmony. In this quick 5-minute episode, we explore why chasing "balance" often leaves you frustrated and how to create the illusion of balance through harmony. You'll learn how to spot those niggling "off-kilter" feelings, uncover hidden clashes between your values, and make small, powerful micro-corrections that bring life back into flow. Whether it's work vs. relationships, health vs. ambition, or just feeling stretched in two directions — I'll give you the tools to notice, question, and adjust. And the best part? These aren't big life overhauls — they're tiny shifts that keep your energy, motivation, and relationships thriving. So if you've been feeling pulled in all directions, this episode will help you realign without losing the spark that makes life exciting. 🔗 Listen now, share with someone who needs it, and start living in harmony — not flatline "balance." https://personaldevelopmentunplugged.com/fmq-509-restoring-work-life-balance Shine Brightly 🌟 Paul Hey there! I'd love to hear from you—questions, feedback, requests—all welcome. Drop me a line or leave a comment. If you've enjoyed this episode or any other, please share and subscribe! You can reach me at [email protected]. Subscribe to the Podcast Ready to subscribe? Click here to explore your options. Or, if you're on Apple Music or iTunes, you can go straight to subscribe or leave a review here. Special Programs for You For tools on developing Supreme Inner Confidence, finding Freedom from Anxiety, or specialized Hypnosis Tracks, visit PaulCloughOnline.com. Free Hypnosis Tracks Want access to my FREE hypnosis tracks? Head over to paulcloughonline.com/podcast. Connect with Me Follow me on Twitter: @pcloughie Remember: I'm a therapist, but I'm not your therapist. This podcast and any of my online resources are for educational purposes only. Never use the hypnosis tracks or exercises if you're operating machinery, driving, or if you have epilepsy or psychiatric conditions. Always consult a healthcare provider if you're unsure. Find Us on Other Platforms Catch the podcast on Spotify, Castbox, iHeart Radio, YouTube, or on our Libsyn page. Stay tuned, and keep shining brightly. ✨ Music Credits Music by Wataboi from Pixabay, Music by DreamHeaven from Pixabay, Music by ccjmusic from Pixabay, Music by freegroove pixabay seduction-jazz-112149 from Pixabay, Music by prazkhanal Pixaby ventura-117073 from Pixabay, And the transcript WARNING if you're a lover of the written word this may make you frustrated, or angry - you have been warned - is it an 'ism Hey my friends, a quick five minute musing about balance. I hate balance. But work-life balance. You know, what does that mean? Work-life balance. You see, life is not a flat line. It doesn't happen that way. It's ups and it's down and it's all over. But it's not a flat line. It's not imbalance. Because balance is boring. It's so boring. Think of just living your life with just a flat line. What would you see? Wouldn't it be grey? I think it'd be grey. In my mind it's grey. I've just been looking out there because I know what's happening next. And you know, I haven't got really many goals because if I have goals I've got to extend myself and push in different directions. You know, if I want to do something this exciting it might challenge me. So that's going to take me off balance. I get that funny feeling that, oh, I don't like that. God, that's not the way to live, is it? That's not the way to live. So what is? What is the way to live? I'm going to tell you. Slow down Cluffy. It's about harmony. And I've talked about this before, but harmony creates the balance that doesn't exist. Which is a weird thing, isn't it? Because I just said it doesn't exist. But it's that harmony that gives the illusion of balance. Because when you need to do one thing it comes along and you spend a little bit more effort there. A little bit more motivation there. And you have to give a little bit. But then you come back and you give a little bit back to that bit and let that other thing go. But you're always living, not on the edge, but sort of on the edge. But you're living towards your goals. Doing things that make your life a zing. Yeah, harmony. Allowing you to do one particular thing and then come back and find something else. And be so interesting and interested in life. That's what it does. And the thing is, you know when this is not happening. Because you feel out of balance. And I keep saying balance doesn't exist. But when you feel a little bit out of kilter. You feel a little bit being pushed and pulled. Maybe that's a better way to explain it. When you're being pushed and pulled in different directions. Or you feel like you are. It's as if there's this blooming old conflict going on. And that's what we call it in this old NLP therapy type world. You've got a conflict. And generally they're conflict of values. I want to do this. But that means I'm going to have to give up a little bit of that. And if I give a little bit of that, it doesn't feel good. But what we don't understand is, as long as we don't go 100 miles to the left and let go of to the right or whichever way you want to put it. But we know we make a decision, a choice, that we're going to put a little bit more effort into this little bit for the moment. But we're going to look after the other bit. So just think, sometimes when you're feeling a little bit off kilter, where am I feeling this? Sometimes you feel it in your body, well you'll feel it in your body anyway. And notice that. We've talked about sitting with your feelings. But also just go below the surface. Is this about my relationships? Is it about my career? Is it the clash between the two? Is it a clash between my health and whatever? Look to see the two things that are rubbing up together and causing this feeling of being out kilter. Because when you do that, and you notice that clash of values, you can do something about it. And when you do something about it, the thing is, don't go mad. Because a lot of people go, oh, I've got to do all of this. So you create the reverse. Another clash of values because you're spending too much time in the other way. No, micro connections, corrections. So again, that was a correction. Micro corrections. Just look at taking action, but action in those small steps. Review, review how you're going. Check inside for those feelings. Does it feel better? Does it feel, yeah, we're going to be a little bit torn to one side, but we know we've made the right decision. And we're going to make amends. We're going to keep an eye. We've only parked ourselves from one side to the other. Because we know by doing a little bit more over here, we'll make life better. But we have to look after the others. We don't ignore them, neglect them. And when you do that, I think your unconscious mind goes, okay, I'm going to give you energy over here. But then we're going to put energy over there. But it's that real noticing, becoming aware. It's an awareness, awareness of that, that funny feeling where things just don't feel quite right. And instead of just pushing through, we just take note. We acknowledge it. And we ask, what is this about? What are the things that I'm pulling away from or pushing towards too much? What could I do? What steps can I do and make the difference? There you go. I hope that's given you something to think about. That's all I want to do here in this five-minute quickie is just to give you an idea of what to become aware of, those niggly feelings, and just to sit with them. Don't ignore them. Don't push them away. Don't just plow ahead and push, you know, push through. Just take a moment or two. It only takes a minute or two when you take a deep breath. And then just ask, you settle in and ask, what's happening here? What do I need to do? What am I doing that if I stopped doing would allow this balance, this harmony to come back into the right kilter? Or what am I not doing if I started doing? Would bring this out of balance back into harmony. When you ask those questions, you just seem to know, you might not get the answer straight away, but you get that feeling of knowing and knowing becomes a behavior. There you go. Play around with that. Have a think. Let me know if there's something that's really grating you though. There is this clash and we'll work something out. Come back to me on personal. No, it's not at all cluffy. It's feedback at personaldevelopmentunplugged.com. Come back to me. Just give me an idea and we'll either point you in the right direction or do an episode. I'm sure we can get an episode. I'm going to try and do a longer pod on this anyway, because I think it's so important. We've done other things on values, but I think it's so important because it just keeps coming up and it affects so many people in our lives, not just ourselves. But it's that important to do take a bit of time, get that feeling of amused and just notice what happens. Let me know. And please share this podcast if you because we all have these little moments of uncertainty and just a little bit of advice. A little bit of doing something slightly different, acknowledging things and asking the right questions can change your life completely and keeps relationships where they should be. Keeps the work life balance, whatever that bloody thing is, in harm. So until the next time, my friend, I will see you on the longer podcast or the five minute quickie. Have fun. Bye bye. So many more people and we love to leave everyone in a better place than we found them. And this will help help the podcast. It will help you and it will help everyone that you know. So if you just subscribe and share, share this podcast to everyone you really well know. That's the only cost. Pay it forward to everyone. And when you do that, boom, we are all going to make a difference to this little old planet Earth of ours and the people in it. Let's make a good world, a nice world. Okay. Okay. You can now prepare to leave this unplugged mind. Warning. You are now leaving the unplugged mind of Paul Clough. It's time to fly. Be brave, my friend. Personal development unplugged. Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message. Personal development [self improvement] [self development] [NLP] [Hypnosis]