Balancing your professional and personal life can be challenging, to say the least. In fact, achieving work-life balance often seems like a magic formula that everyone is trying to figure out. I definitely have not mastered it yet — in fact, I have come to believe that there really is no such thing as “perfect” work-life balance. Instead, it’s all about being realistic and honest with yourself.
Still, even moving in the direction of work-life balance offers many pluses, including less stress, a lower risk of health issues and a greater sense of well-being. With that in mind, here are some insights I’ve picked up along the way.
When your energy is balanced, and stress levels are under control, everything just runs more smoothly.
No Matter How Busy You Are, It’s Important to Slow Down
I am a performer and content creator, and I also own multiple businesses. This often makes me feel like I’m on the go 24/7. I self-manage three very busy Airbnbs and three long-term rentals. I also run a very busy healing practice. I’m constantly shooting content, and of course I’m on my OnlyFans and all of my social media platforms.
Even though my life is incredibly busy, I always make time to give back to myself and recharge my battery. We are energetic beings, and you can’t give what you don’t have. When I get burnt out or depleted, I take a day off. I also recently bought some property down in the southern Yucatan. When I find that I can’t carve out enough time for myself, I head down there for a week or so and completely unplug and go diving. If you are able, traveling for a change of scenery makes a huge difference. So does unplugging. I highly recommend trying both if you can.
Make Self-Care a Priority
Even juggling several businesses, I always try to fit self-care into my schedule. By “self-care,” I mean anything that makes you feel happy, fulfilled, aligned and at peace. That’s important, because self-care will look different for everyone. Personally, I like kickboxing and circuit training because those are great, earthy, grounded ways to release energy. I’m always smiling after a good workout. Cursing my trainers, but also smiling.
I also like to spend time in my garden, with my animals and in nature. I’ve got a plentiful edible garden full of raised veggie beds, berries, fruit trees and all sorts of other cool edibles like capers, herbs, passion fruit vines, bananas and dragon fruit. I grow all of my own greens for juicing and salads. In addition, I have two beehives and a fairly large chicken coop with 15 hens, so I always have fresh honey and eggs.
Being in my garden with my animals makes me extremely happy. So do my fur babies: Angel my Rottweiler, Grogu my Chihuahua and Olly my cat. They are a constant source of replenishing love and joy for me. I also have three koi ponds; I spend quiet time with them and listening to the water helps me find my center. I like to start my day there with a cup of tea and visualize/create my day.
Leave Room for Spiritual Growth
Trying to do everything I do and still make time for self-care has never been easy, but my top priority is my energy management, spiritual growth and evolution. I’m very active in the healing arts and practice several forms of energy and sound healing. It’s been the foundation of everything I am for over 25 years. I get energy healing sessions and acupuncture twice a month. If I’m dealing with something serious or shooting a lot, I try to go weekly. It’s the best preventative medicine there is out there. When your energy is balanced, and stress levels are under control, everything just runs more smoothly.
Don’t Strive for Perfection
We’re all works in progress. We do our best, but none of us is perfect. So the best advice I can give you is to listen to your body and be gentle with yourself. It’s also important to spend time with your loved ones, good friends and anyone else who brings you joy and lets you forget about the real world, even if just for a while. We don’t always have to be pushing ahead at full throttle. Life is too short to miss all the magical moments in the present, because you’re always running toward the next thing.
Shay Sights is a performer and content creator who can be followed @Shay_Sights on Twitter, booked via ATMLA for professional shoots and whose content can be found at ShaySights.com.
