Is maintaining work-life balance while advancing your career just a dream?

Work–life balance Oh, it's there.Here.Ta-da!

No?Nothing came out?There's nothing inside."Okay, keeping a balance between personal and professional life while advancing your career:is that just a dream?" It's not a dream, but it is extremely difficult.

I have many stories I could tell.The second chapter of my book is entirely about the balance between personal and professional life.

But this topic always feels like a bit of a cliché, right?

Ah, the balance between personal life and professional life… Because when people hear about these topics, they think we have to be balanced every single day of our lives.

That we should dedicate a little bit to this, to that… That's not it.

I don't know anyone who's balanced every single day.

If you know someone like that, they must be an exceptional person.

The balance between personal and professional life is about… setting non-negotiable priorities in our lives.

It's about understanding what is absolutely essential for us.

And those priorities often change over time.Let me tell you, for example, about an exercise I do every morning.

I do the "three boxes" exercise.In a famous podcast I recorded, I called them "the three buckets." Because it was the translation from "buckets" to the Portuguese "baldes." Now I say "boxes," it sounds much better.

What are those three boxes?The first box is the "me" box.

I always wanted to be a flight attendant, but I'm short,so I couldn't.

But flight attendants, or cabin crew, always say that in case of cabin depressurization, oxygen masks drop down,you take one, place it over your nose and mouth,and breathe normally.

So, who should we put the oxygen mask on first?On ourselves.

But who do we usually put it on first?On our children, our husband, maybe even the flight attendant,and afterwards, on ourselves.

That's why, when I think about the three boxes, the first one has to be the "me" box, because we have to be the most important person.

When I wake up in the morning, I think about the "me" box and ask myself:"How am I feeling today?" "Am I happy?" "Am I feeling good?" "Am I eating well?" "Am I exercising?" "How am I doing?" The second box is the one for family and friends, because friends,when they are true friends, are the family we choose.

I ask myself: "How is my family?" "Have I spent time with Maria Teresa, my daughter?" "Have I spent time with my husband?" "Have we had time to play, to do things together?" "Have I spent time with my friends?" "Do they understand my life choices?" "How are we doing?" And then the third box is work. Usually, people only ask themselves questions from one side of the equation:"Am I in a company that values me, pays me well, where I can achieve my goals?" "Am I in a company that understands me?" But we often forget to ask the questions from the other side, which are:"Am I being the best professional I can be to help the company achieve its goals?" "Am I a professional who lives the company's values and someone the company can feel proud of as an employee?" It's about giving and receiving. You can't ask without offering.

By reflecting on these three boxes, these three buckets,every morning, I realize that there are days when the "me" box is emptier, others when the "family" box is fuller,or a day when the "work" box weighs more.

For example, today I'm here, spending the day with you,and I'm very grateful and happy. But spending the day here means I haven't worked out, and that I'm away from my family today.

So those two boxes are a little emptier today.But I already knew that from the moment I accepted to come,I've already organized myself so that, on the other days this week,it will be just the opposite.

So that I can spend more time on myself and with my family,to keep the balance. Why?

Because I believe it's very hard to be balanced in all three boxes every day of our lives.

It's about making choices, about setting priorities.