"Imagine that you are standing in the center of a clock. Every hour is a value/priority to which your center/core chooses to point."

There are New Year’s Day resolutions. And then there are daily epiphanies.

You cannot get time back twice. Yet investments in time are long-lasting. 

There ARE enough seconds in the minute, minutes in the hour, hours in the day, days in the week, weeks in the month, and months in the year. You can consciously calculate them. Steady and strategic win the balancing act race.

After viewing a gratitude collage that I created, someone asked me, “What are the keys to living a balanced life?” When I looked at the pictures in my collage, I realized that each picture represented a core value. And God’s omnipotence centered all of those values. 

Imagine that you are standing in the center of a clock. Every hour is a value/priority to which your center/core chooses to point. Each value feeds and motivates another value. Some values even overlap and complement each other. 

Author Kyna Powell's Butterfly Clock

Visualize the Clock

The Center. Commit to your faith. Establish a spiritual relationship with God. Allow your moral conscience compass to guide you. Deter negative energy and give/receive positive vibes. Treat others with love, dignity, honesty, and respect. Pray. Meditate. Read the Word. Be willing to learn, let go, and evolve. Speak words that heal instead of hurt. Listen. Repent. Forgive. Restore. Encourage. Sacrifice. Obey boundaries. Set standards. Devote yourself to discipline. Walk what you talk. Bear and share fruit. 

Hour 1. Stewardship. Balance and manage your priorities. Deny your pleasures so that your priorities can afford you better ones. Create and adhere to schedules and budgets. Set milestones. If remembering dates is not your forte, create a calendar and update it cyclically. Avoid over-committing to anything; else, you will rob one or more of your responsibilities of the attention they deserve. Consider others’ time in conjunction with yours when you are working on common goals. Set accountability boundaries; you cannot reprimand what you enable. Let solutions motivate you instead of problems overcome you. Make a to-do list and pace yourself with completing the list instead of waiting until the last minute to overwhelm yourself with completing all of its items. Your juggling act will turn into task mastery.

Hour 2. Self-care. Know when and to what and whom you say, "Yes" and "No." Do what you can. You will run yourself ragged trying to do what you can’t. Know the difference between being utilized and used; be kind without being blind. Respect yourself. Be aware of your surroundings and protect yourself.  Consistently schedule "me" time to be alone with your thoughts, relax, and participate in activities that fulfill you. Be good to yourself so that you can be a blessing to others.

Hour 3. Family.   Build upon the foundation that you are a team, unit, and a blood line or name. Nurture each other. Be present and supportive, but also expect the same in return. Eat meals, pray, and communicate together. Participate in team-building activities such as chores or sports. If you have a spouse or children, do not lose yourself in those relationships. You are also valuable, important, and have the right to dream and live as an individual. Do not neglect your kids for your spouse or vice versa; if you do, one of the relationships will suffer.  

Hour 4. Friends. Build positive and healthy platonic relationships. Continue being a friend and having friends once you become a spouse and/or parent. How you interact with and learn with/from others helps you become a better person, partner, and parent. Get to know people of different ages, races, and cultures. By doing this, you emerge from the conventional box and learn the world and diverse ways of living and thinking. Perspectives and perceptions are reality. Stay in touch! Do not wait for someone to plan an official reunion. You may not live on the same blocks, attend the same schools, or work in the same departments any more. But you can still commit to spending quality time together. Plan outings or innings with your home boys and home girls. Show up! Don’t become a habitual cancellation artist. Go to movies, restaurants, and sporting or arts events. Form teams to support causes in which you believe. Take girls’ trips and guys’ retreats. Check on each other; everyone is not always OK! Support each other’s families, dreams, and businesses. Be happy for each other’s successes and supportive during challenges; you are each other’s cheerleaders. Be swift to communicate and heal; do not let misunderstandings fester.  Solid friendships are forever, if nurtured.

"Plan outings or innings with your home boys and home girls. Show up! Don’t become a habitual cancellation artist"

Hour 5. Work. Find purpose in your profession. Know your business’ mission and vision and how your time, skills, and talent contribute to them. Continuously update your resume so that you keep track of personal skillsets and accomplishments. Never stop learning and growing. Create an individual development plan.  Be a mentor; find ways to utilize your skill set to help build others. Seek out experienced coaches to provide you with strategies to meet your goals.  

Hour 6. Health. Nurture quality in the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual quad. Inch toward your wellness until it becomes a natural, overall habit by which you measure your health. Eat clean, but reward yourself with cheat treat meals. Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and alert. Give your body adequate sleep/rest. Listen to calming music before you go to sleep and allow the peaceful sounds to usher you into slumber. Schedule and commit to physicals, check-ups, and therapy.  Set realistic weight maintenance or loss goals. Make the gym, yoga, dance, or boxing studio, track, pool, or field your happy hour.  Balance cardiovascular and resistance training.  Energize and relax your mind simultaneously. Take mental health days. Open the windows or take walks/runs to get fresh air. Sketch, draw, or paint. Play, sing, produce, or write music. Dance in the rain and bask in the sunlight. Meditate. Enhance the ambiance with aromatherapy. Invest in regular massage appointments. Focus on your breathing. Take in nature and scenic routes. Smile. Journal your thoughts and experiences. Scrapbook snapshots, accomplishments, memories, and keepsakes. Hand-write letters. De-clutter and organize. Adopt an attitude of gratitude; if you are neglectful to be thankful, you are either 1) suffering from a sense of self-entitlement or 2) just way too busy. Feed your faith through spiritual relationship, learning, and lifestyle.

Hour 7. Love.  Seek your complement once you are a complete individual. Wait for the right one instead of rushing for the wrong one. Be friends first; that is the primary test of productive partnership. Compatibility, chemistry, communication, and charity are keys to successful companionship. Share core values in an equally-yoked bond. Reach common ground with your views on managing money and raising children. Avoid putting your partner on worshipped pedestals; you are human equals. Avoid obsession and set healthy boundaries with healthy personal space. A true teammate will consistently strive to build and win with you. A devoted best friend will stand by you in celebratory and challenging times. A true “boo” will respect, honor, and communicate with you. Pick up your interest in one another and put down your cell phones when you are spending quality time together. Give and expect respect. Listen to understand instead of to defend. Bond with your similarities and grow through your differences. Reciprocate and consistently treat each other, not just on Valentine’s Day or birthdays. Coach, clean, cook, exercise, learn, and study together. Pull your weight, with each partner giving 100 percent. Support each other’s aspirations and dreams.

Hour 8. Education. Keep your brain fresh and young with continuous learning. Earn a degree or certificate. Learn a new skill, language, trade, or technical program. Travel to an unfamiliar place to learn about a different culture. If your mind is overflowing with thoughts, start a blog, podcast, class, or empowerment group to teach and learn from others through idea exchange.

Hour 9. Goals.  Set deadlines for your dreams. Plan them accordingly.  The person you face in the mirror is your greatest competition. Avoid comparing yourself to others and their dreams. Set a new goal every month, semester, and year to keep yourself motivated. Reward yourself once you meet your goal.

Hour 10. Hobbies.  Pinpoint and nurture your passion – that which makes you feel alive, happy, and fulfilled. Whatever it is, continuously schedule it into your routine. What you do not have - become or help. Nurture. Adopt. Volunteer at a hospital, nursery, shelter, school, community center, or mentoring program. If you cannot physically play anymore, coach the sport you know and love. When you master your passion, teach it to someone else. Pass your skillset to the next generation of passionate pastime lovers.

Hour 11. Vacations. Celebrate life. Get in the car or on a plane, train, or boat to a destination that is not part of your daily routine. Indulge in hobbies and excursions. Travel to a peaceful place that allows you and an intimate group to rejuvenate. Each birthday, do something special to commemorate the life God has given you. Relax and sleep late without an alarm clock’s interruption. Open your heart to receive intangible blessings. Eat creative cuisine and savor sweets. But most important, acknowledge and give God thanks for your life and those who are a part of your life. Spend valuable time with loved ones and open your heart and calendar to allow them to celebrate you and vice versa.  Take note of who remembers you. Embrace aging as yet another opportunity to celebrate existence. Keep track of your experiences more than your age.

"Set deadlines for your dreams. Plan them accordingly.  The person you face in the mirror is your greatest competition. Avoid comparing yourself to others and their dreams."

Hour 12. Giving Back. Allow your legacy to live on through what you pour into others and how seeds bear fruit. Support a cause in whose positive mission you believe. For those who nurture(d) or educate(d) you – visit, prepare meals, or treat them to gratitude or “just because” dates. Pass the torch via mentoring or teaching a skill or character lifestyle. Share your epiphanies. 
Harmonizing priorities is the key to living a balanced life. Priorities correlate to core values. Make each second, minute, hour, day, month, year, and moment – count on your life clock. Point your purpose toward living productively and passionately.