In my last blog I looked at Radical Replenishment of energy, because being exhausted and burnt out is not the ideal state for making those changes to get us to our ideal goal of finding harmony.
Hopefully those replenishment ideas are beginning to take effect and you’re looking at the next step on the road to a more harmonious life with a little more energy.
Once you feel more energised, the next place I would suggest looking is to your boundaries. Although I talk of a harmonious flow between the areas of our lives, that does still require us to be clear on where those areas begin and end. Checking and maintaining your boundaries can be an excellent step in protecting your newly replenished energy levels.
Why boundaries matter
When we are exhausted and running at low ebb it is more important than ever to set boundaries on our time and energy and those boundaries will need to be tighter than usual. So many of my clients struggle with this. You don’t want to let people down, you feel obliged to help, you have a whole host of ‘have to’s that are hard to step away from.
I get it. However, setting clear boundaries, and maintaining them is key to ensuring you are working within your harmonious zone, and ensuring that you have the energy to do what you are doing long-term.
Boundaries protect your energy
Setting and maintaining boundaries is about choosing to say no to the energy drains. Choosing to accept yourself as the most important person in your world. Choosing to limit the number of people you give your energy to to just the absolute most important few.
It can be as simple as greeting a request with “Thanks for asking but I can’t this week. Do ask me again next time though” or “Let me think who might be able to help instead”.
Our boundaries can be the keystone to our replenishment – without them it can all fall down very quickly!
Boundaries check
I would encourage you to take a moment to reflect on your boundaries, where they are working, and where they need to be reinstated or better maintained.
- Where are your boundaries protecting your time/energy or space effectively?
- Where do you need to set some boundaries to help your replenishment?
- Where are you letting work creep into home time?
- Where are you letting other people’s requests come ahead of your own needs?
Even small changes to some of these boundaries can have a huge impact on your energy and stress levels. Protecting your family or relaxation time from demands helps you to feel safer, more relaxed and better able to engage in that aspect of your life.
As we looked at in the Work-life balance: finding harmony article the areas of our life are not rigidly separate, and at times more of our time will need to be spent in one area than another, however, knowingly flexing boundaries for a period is very different to permanently eroding them. After a period of flex we need to ensure that we reinstate our boundaries to protect ourselves in the long-term.
This week, I want you to make the choice this week to be firm with your boundaries. Say no to those energy drains, and prioritise you when it comes to how to spend that energy.
Observe the impact this has.
Next, when you feel more energised and boundaried, we will revisit that harmonious vision, and see if the next steps have changed and if they feel more manageable.
If you’re not already a member then please do join us and tell how setting and maintaining your boundaries is going in my Facebook group, Soulfire Community. To read more ways to find harmony and achieve your goals ensure you have signed up to my newsletter.