How do you balance relationships and self interest?
In our professional and personal lives, finding the right balance between pursuing personal goals and fulfilling our responsibilities to others is a crucial, yet often complex, endeavor. Whether you're a manager, a team member, or simply someone juggling various relational dynamics, the challenge remains: how do you remain true to yourself while being fair and supportive to those around you?
Frameworks for Balanced Relationships
Firstly, it's important to establish a solid foundation using frameworks that help balance self-interest with duties to others. Here are a few strategies:
1. Principle of Fairness: This involves evaluating your actions to ensure fairness in meeting both your needs and those of others. Strive for an equitable balance where no one's needs consistently overshadow the other’s.
2. Self-Compassion and Other-Compassion Framework: Practice treating yourself with kindness and understanding, paralleled by the compassion you show towards others. This helps in making decisions that are empathetic and considerate of everyone's feelings and needs.
3. Interdependence Recognition: Acknowledge that success often stems from mutual support. Understanding that your progress may depend on how you support others, and vice versa, can promote a more collaborative approach.
4. Priority-Based Allocation: Constantly assess and prioritize your commitments alongside personal goals, ensuring that your time and resources are distributed effectively based on what’s most important at the moment.
5. Ethical Decision-Making Model: Make decisions by considering their impact on others, societal norms, and your personal values. This ensures that your actions are both morally defensible and aligned with your ethical beliefs.
When Others Don’t Play Along
However, it's not uncommon to encounter situations where others do not reciprocate these balanced efforts. Here's how to adapt:
1. Boundary Setting: It's crucial to define what you can tolerate and how far you are willing to go in giving without adequate return. Clear boundaries protect your interests and emotional health.
2. Strategic Disengagement: If non-reciprocity harms your well-being, consider reducing your involvement. This doesn't mean abandoning your responsibilities but prioritizing your energy more wisely.
3. Selective Investment: Direct your efforts towards relationships that offer mutual benefits. Investing in reciprocating relationships fosters more rewarding exchanges.
4. Reflective Practice: Regularly assess whether a lack of reciprocity is due to external factors or a fundamental characteristic of the relationship. This understanding can guide your response and expectation adjustments.
5. Communication of Expectations: Explicitly communicate your need for balance and reciprocity. Sometimes, a straightforward discussion about mutual expectations can initiate more considerate interactions.
Conclusion
Balancing self-interest with responsibilities to others is an ongoing process that requires patience, understanding, and flexibility. By employing these frameworks and adaptations, you can better navigate the complexities of relationships in all areas of life. Remember, the goal is not to achieve a perfect balance at all times but to strive for an equitable and healthy dynamic that respects both your needs and those of the people around you.
If you would like support implementing these frameworks in your life consider working with me.
Introductions
Hi, I am Hurudza, the founder of the Feeling Fitness. I want you to know that I feel your pain - I have worked in high performance roles and in success and failure I struggled with crippling stress and anxiety.
The Feeling Fitness System was a labour of love aimed at building calm and freedom into my life. It’s taken 10 years to get to this point, that is 9,500 hours of effort and counting.
To get started on your journey to a calmer lower stress life ….
Benefits of Feeling Fitness
Feel lighter, calmer, more focussed.
Enjoy better sleep, more motivation, let setbacks go.
Feeling in Control
Unlike talking therapies you don’t talk about feelings or secrets and don’t rely on us for progress.
Testimonials
Here are a few of my favourite comments from clients …
Communications Executive
“Feeling much better. Much much better!!!”
Marketing Manager
“Really grateful for your programme, I feel like skipping in the street”
Lawyer
“I feel like I have new tools in my arsenal”
Technical Director
“The techniques are simple and they work”
The Process
It is a 3 step process to relieve stress and teach you the skills so you can apply it yourself. It is designed so that relief comes as soon as possible. It all starts with:
Step 1 - Create a personalised plan
Step 2 - Enjoy learning & feeling the skills and tools working for you
Step 3 - Enjoy the feeling of calmer, lower stress life
What do you get?
Step 1 - Create a Personalised Plan
Your Free Stress Assessment of what are the main causes of stress and areas for potential improvement in your stress reduction practices,
A Personalised Roadmap to your goals, where we get to know each other and I can your goals for stress management and we can discuss potential solutions that work with you, and
Guided Stress Relief so you can feel if my approach works for you.
Step 2 - Enjoy Learning & Feeling Your New Skills and Tools Working for You
Personalised 1:1s for specific areas of focus identified in your plan,
In person 1 day Workshop in:
Stress defence techniques,
Stress removal techniques
Natural supplements for stress reduction
How to change your sensory environment for stress reduction
Supporting reading materials
Supporting tools
and we offer ongoing support, accountability, tools and coaching to ensure you stay in control and address the causes of stress.
Next Steps
To get started on your journey to a calmer lower stress life ….