Mindful in 5 Podcast

Work-Life Harmony. Myth or Reality?

• Spiwe Jefferson • Season 5 • Episode 149

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Imagine transforming your hectic schedule into a harmonious symphony of professional and personal fulfillment. Join Spiwe Jefferson and the Mindful Ninjas in our latest episode of Mindful in 5, where we move beyond the elusive quest for work-life balance and instead embrace the holistic concept of work-life harmony. Through the insightful "life roles reflection" technique, you’ll learn to thoughtfully assess your various life roles and joyfully identify small yet impactful actions to elevate your overall satisfaction. Hear the inspiring story of Brianna, who navigates marital challenges with her husband Rashad, highlighting the profound importance of mindful role management. Even in moments when conversations don't go as planned, Brianna’s journey underscores the power of proactive, mindful actions to integrate work and personal life peacefully.

This week, we challenge you to complete the life roles reflection and take one small, cheerful step to enhance your lowest-rated role, bringing a softer, more harmonious energy to your daily life. Additionally, we promote the values of mindfulness and well-being, encouraging you to share our podcast with friends and engage with our mindful community. Don't forget to explore the book and journal available on my website, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble, and join our LinkedIn Mindful in 5 group to connect and share your experiences. Embrace the childlike qualities of trust, authenticity, and resilience as we journey together towards a more fulfilled and harmonious life.


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Speaker 1:

Welcome to Mindful in 5, where busy professionals find your peaceful oasis to thrive in complex work environments. I am Spiwa Jefferson attorney, certified mindfulness practitioner and author of the Mindful in 5 book series. Here to guide you to a clearer, softer and more supported life. Join me and your fellow mindful ninjas as we explore science-backed mindfulness strategies for successful leaders that you can implement, starting with just five minutes a day. Elevate your work, empower your life, work higher, live stronger. Let's go. Do you find yourself torn between work and personal life, your mind clouded by guilt and stress life? Your mind clouded by guilt and stress, yearning for a more peaceful balance? The exclusive pursuit of work-life balance can disrupt your joyful journey, leaving you feeling unsupported and disconnected from both your professional and personal spheres. Today, our topic is work-life harmony. We want to know if this is a myth or a reality. Can we bring a clearer, more cheerful approach to integrating all aspects of your life? And if you're wondering about the cute kids in imagery this season, we are embracing the beginner's mind by channeling childlike qualities trust, authenticity, creativity, resilience and optimism to transform our mindfulness practice and daily lives. Let our playful cover art inspire you to approach each day with fresh eyes and an open heart and, hopefully, a smile. Back to our topic. Imagine navigating your professional and personal responsibilities with calm confidence, finding joyful fulfillment in both realms. By shifting from balance to harmony, you can create a softer, more supportive approach to both life and career.

Speaker 1:

Let's explore a peaceful technique called the life rules reflection. A peaceful technique called the life rules reflection. Here's how it works. Step one joyfully list your various life roles. Let's see I am a professional, I'm a parent, I'm a partner, I'm a friend, I am self. That simple. Next, rate your current satisfaction in each role, approaching this with gentle honesty. Then identify one small, cheerful action to improve your lowest rated role. Step four schedule this action creating a clear chapter about Brianna.

Speaker 1:

Brianna is worried about her marriage. Brianna's married to Rashad and she decides they're having marital trouble, they are empty nesters and she wants to confront something that she's anxious about. So she's lying awake at, you know, two o'clock or dark 30 in the morning and she decides that she is going to have a conversation with her husband. So I will read you this chapter, and if you're thinking she's going to read a whole chapter, let me tell you the Mindful in Five. Chapters are actually very small. So here it is Brianna, lay awake, worrying about many things. Who was she without her children? The reason she's worried about the children being gone is because they're new empty nesters, because the twins have gone off to college. Back to the book.

Speaker 1:

Was Rashad right when he said all she had been the past 18 years was a mother? Did she really treat her husband more like a utility player than a partner? Did she even want a partner? The last question snuck up on her, making her shudder as she mentally batted it away. It was two o'clock in the morning and Brianna and Rashad's children had only been gone a month. She was happy they were thriving and finding their way at college and she couldn't do anything about their departure. But she could do something about her relationship with Rashad. She rolled over to face him as he lay, snoring gently. She used to love watching him sleep, but now not even his distinguished gray temples or smooth caramel pores caught her attention. Rashad, rashad. He grunted and shifted. She put a hand on his arm. Can we talk? Rashad opened a single bleary eye and regarded her warily. So there you go.

Speaker 1:

And so, if we think of her, if we think of Brianna, joyfully list your various life roles. Right, she's a professional, she's a teacher, she's a parent. Clearly she is a wife. She's somebody's friend maybe not Rashad's in this moment and she is self. And so her satisfaction clearly she sounds like she was a really great mom, right. So way up on the satisfaction ratings on the mom scale and if we just think honestly about what we just read, not so great a partner to her husband, maybe because that relationship is keeping her awake at night, because it's not going well. And so there you go. This is the thing. What is one small cheerful action that she can do to that she can take to improve her lowest rated role?

Speaker 1:

So Brianna decided she was going to wake her husband up at 2am and she was going to do something about it and she was going to talk about it. Now I personally do not recommend that you wake your partners up at 2am to talk about something that's on your mind. Maybe there are other sleep techniques we can talk about for another day, but this is probably not going to go well, as you can imagine, and in fact it does not go well. In fact it doesn't go well at all, and the conversation goes downhill very, very quickly and you can pick up your copy of Mindful in Five to see what happened with Brianna and Rashad. And what I just read you was chapter. Let me see if I can find this chapter. This was chapter 10 in the dark section of the book, and it is called Confront Anxiety. So yeah, didn't go well, but there you go. She tried it.

Speaker 1:

Research shows that this type of mindful role management can significantly improve overall life satisfaction, fostering a more peaceful integration of work and personal life. I try to leave you with a thought-provoking perspective and here's the thought for this week. Work-life harmony isn't about perfect equilibrium. Work-life harmony isn't about perfect equilibrium, but about creating a joyful, clear rhythm that supports all aspects of your life. Along those lines, here's your cheerful challenge for the week Complete the life roles, reflection and implement your chosen action. Notice how it brings a softer, more supported energy to your week. Are you ready to create more joyful harmony in your life?

Speaker 1:

I have prepared a set, and a growing set of downloadables that you can find. You can find the link in the notes for this podcast. You can also find them at spewedeffersoncom as a subset in the shop section, eversoncom as a subset in the shop section, and each one of these is designed to take you on a 20 to 30 day journey to do a deep dive into some aspect of your professional life so that you, too, can elevate your work and empower your life, using these 30-day typically 30-day plans to cultivate better work-life harmony in your life and to improve your leadership skills and you can just pick a topic of the topics that are available. Remember that work-life harmony is an ongoing journey of peaceful adjustment. By approaching it with clear intention and joyful flexibility, you are creating a more fulfilling and supported life experience. May your days be filled with clear purpose and joyful harmony Until next week. This is Biwe, saying be mindful and be well.

Speaker 2:

Thank you for listening to Mindful in 5. If you enjoyed it, share it with a friend, follow and rate it on your favorite podcast platform. Pick up your signed copy of the book and journal from spiwejeffersoncom, or unsigned copies from Amazon, Barnes, Noble or wherever you get your books. Visit spewayjeffersoncom to download sample chapters of the book, watch videos and become a mindful ninja. Join us on the LinkedIn Mindful in 5 group and share your thoughts. Until next time, be mindful and be well.