Is it possible to balance your personal and professional life? Yes. And you can add love and satisfaction — plus tax.
The fifth and final episode of the My Fab Finance series delved into creating a vision for your life and making that vision for how to design your dream life and making that vision come to fruition. In this edition, Tonya Rapley, the millennial entrepreneur who organized the five-day webinar, spoke with Yahya Smith, the founder of Feminine Success, a lifestyle brand for women.
Rapley is the creator behind My Fab Finance, who seeks to help millennials “break the cycle of living paycheck to paycheck so they can become financially free and do more of what they love.”
How, do you ask? See what Smith says, in the recap below for BlackLove.com.
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On finding balance
Smith — a married mother of four who homeschools her children — says she has turned her life around.
As a young, single mom, she had to gain clarity on what she envisioned for her life. She stated, “I really had to spend time with myself and God.” After doing so, Smith fully realized that clarity and went on to get married, quit her job, and create her own work-from-home business. Today, she rises early to take time for herself before homeschooling her children, running her company for a bit, spending time with her family (sans TV—they don’t have one), and closing out the night with a few business tasks. She describes real freedom, for her, is the ability to decide how to spend her time, and to do so without permission.
If you’re trying to find balance in your life, she recommends getting clear with yourself and deciding what “having it all” means for you. The definition varies for everyone. She also says you don’t need to worry about someone else’s timeline!
Writing down your vision
“I believe in writing a vision in detail,” Smith says, noting you can do this after you get quiet and decide what you want to do. She likens this to a business plan: If you would write a plan before starting a company, why not write a plan for your life? As a writer who’s also taught wellness and mindset workshops, I can agree with this one! Once you get clear on your vision, Smith recommends taking a more in-depth look at how your actions line up.
For instance, she posed the question: If you want to be married, are you being social and exuding attraction? If you aspire to make more money, will you perhaps renegotiate your salary? Or maybe something else? If you want more moments with family, are you carving out that time?
Getting your life into alignment
Think about the tone you set and the habits you want to create, Smith reiterates. For example, if you want a business built around your personal life — and let’s say, love — then prioritize your life first, she said. If things don’t align with your goals, it’s okay to say no. When asked to do different tasks, Smith says she asks herself a few questions, including, is this something she has the energy and bandwidth to complete? Or will it propel her closer to achieving her goals?
If you find yourself procrastinating consider taking a moment to reflect on a few simple questions. Such as whether or not it’s a task that will help you achieve your goals and is it in alignment with your plan. If the answer is yes then, perhaps it’s something to do. Also, remember some quiet time is okay. As I wrote on Instagram recently, we are in heavy times right now. We don’t always have to be on the go, and having quiet time doesn’t make you lazy, Smith says.
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