In today’s fast-paced world, it can be tricky to maintain a satisfying work-life balance – for many, professional fulfillment comes at the cost of personal wellbeing, while for others family and social commitments can impede career aspirations. So how can anyone be happy and healthy both personally and professionally? Katie Kuhlman-Rice, who previously joined us to discuss the benefits of short-term rentals, sat down with Asheville Real Estate News’ Rodrigo Afanador to explore the meaning of a work-life balance and how it can be achieved, particularly during periods of change and transition.
Kuhlman-Rice, who works as a coach for multifaceted personal development, sees many of her clients faced with important and defining big-picture questions that they often struggle to answer. “How do I be true to myself,” they often wonder, “how do I build and grow a business or career, and how do I manage my relationships and time with my family?”
This can be a difficult balance to strike, but, according to Kuhlman-Rice, it has to start with one’s relationship with him or herself. It comes down to self-care, she says – the busier you get, personally or professionally, the more important self-care becomes while simultaneously becoming more difficult to fit into an already tight schedule. But by making the time to become more in-tune with oneself, every other aspect of life – from work to interpersonal relationships – will improve as well.
Essentially, she says, you need to learn how to nurture yourself. One way in which Kuhlman-Rice does this herself and suggests that her clients do the same is by establishing a morning routine. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to do the same things every single morning, but rather that you should establish a routine of making time to connect with yourself before jumping into your day. For some, that might mean engaging in a brief yoga practice; for others, it could be journalling or simply taking a moment to reflect. Regardless, the important thing is the engagement of self.
Even the busiest of people, Kuhlman-Rice says, have time to do this. Whether it’s the first thing in the morning, after work, or before bed, anyone can find twenty minutes take part in a self-care activity of some sort. By starting with twenty minutes and then expanding as possible, she says, you begin to build a solid foundation for personal stability. “You build this foundation…and then when you wobble off of it when things get stressful or this or that, you know you can just come back to it.” Building the foundation is, essentially, building resilience, and it can enable you to enjoy not just the destination but the journey.
It’s great to have goals, Kuhlman-Rice says, but you have to “fall in love with the process of life.” Enjoying getting to your goals, she says, and you will enjoy your success that much more when you achieve them.
Naturally, life will never be without stressors; our happiness, then, depends upon how we handle those stressors – that’s quality of life. By building resilience and self-care skills, Kuhlman-Rice says, we can all be both happy and successful in all aspects of life.
To learn more about Katie Kuhlman-Rice, visit KatieRiceAsheville.com or call 828-230-7482.
