Suppose you could use a crystal ball and know it worked. You gaze into the ball, and it starts to portray your life for the next twenty years. It is showing your future. How would your future look?

While there are no definite ways to peer into the future to date, you do have some control over the process. There are random events that will be beyond your control, and some of them not so pleasant, unfortunately. However, there is much you can do to shape your future. 

The point of the exercise is to try and determine if you appreciate the small things in your life. In other words, looking into the crystal ball are you spending time with family or friends, or are you constantly working and not interacting with anyone? Identify what work-life balance means to you.

Finding Balance

If you choose to work and focus entirely on making money, you may look back on your time and wish you hadn’t. There is so much more to life than work.The company you work for is not going to care about you in the future.  They will simply replace you with someone younger and less expensive.  You aren’t as important to them as you make yourself out to be.  Everyone is replaceable.

People do need to work. You have to be able to provide for your family. But, you need to determine a balance between working too much and spending precious time with your family and friends. Work and money is something you can always manage to find. Family and friends are irreplaceable as is the time you spend with them.

Another reason to spend time with people is they can also present you with opportunities. For instance, you may not like your career, but you stick with it because the money is good and it’s steady work. When you interact with other people, you may find opportunities for work that you’d much prefer. This kind of thing happens quite often. If you spent the majority of your time at your job, you would never discover these opportunities.

Of course, you don’t want to make friends just for the opportunities they may have for you. However, friendships often lead to forming new ventures. That is a natural part of the process. More importantly, the comradery of having friends can never be satisfied with a job. It is possible to make good friends at work, but more often these relationships are distant.

I’m Marci, RN. I wear a lot of hats, just like you do. I help nurses and other healthcare professionals reignite their passion for the work they do and actually look forward to going to work everyday.