Welcome to The Dish where Drew DeMaree & guests serve up a healthy dose of reality each week.  This blog is about keeping it real ~ real challenges, real distractions, real life getting in the way of, well…virtually everything.  How we view our realities depends on individual mindset, and we want to discuss WHY MINDSET MATTERS.

Let’s talk about the mindset around BALANCE, or counterbalance in my view.

WORK HARD – PLAY HARD is something we see printed on tee shirts and posted on social media, but what does that really mean? Learning to counterbalance makes us who we are, and more importantly, it can make us HAPPY.  Happiness looks different for everyone; we each have to determine what we truly desire in our lives and how to prioritize those things in order to maintain the correct balance.

TAKE THE QUALITY OF YOUR LIFE INTO YOUR OWN HANDS!  It’s not someone else’s job to make your life better, it’s YOURS.  You must decide how to make room for not only that which is vital but those things that make life worth living.

To do this, start by creating the “perfect day” in your mind which includes as much as you can squeeze into one day, then begin chipping away.

We all have big goals, but a balanced life starts with small wins and doesn’t have to mean dramatic changes.

• Focus on your strengths – you can’t be all things to all people; you must outsource
• Prioritize your time – this means decide which things on your to-do list can wait
• Become in tune with your energy peaks – are you are morning or late-night person
• Set working hours – most importantly, stick to them
• Make your workspace work for you – include items that are comfortable or important to you
• Carve out “me” time – self-care is never overrated
• Add non-work events to your calendar – these are important parts of each day/week
• Tap into technology – save drive time by using Zoom or other virtual meeting options
• Take time to make time – invest in time-tracking tools
• Be realistic – what is working, what is not, what went wrong and why, then re-group
• Manage your mind – mental health requires different things for different people

Brian Byson, former vice chairman and COO of Coca-Cola dropped the mic with this quote, “Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air.  You name them- work, family, health, friends and spirit, and you’re keeping all of these in the air.  You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball.  If you drop it, it will bounce back.  But the other four balls- family, health, friends and spirit- are made of glass.  If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered.  They will never by the same.  You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.”  And, that’s why MINDSET MATTERS.