insideKENT Magazine Issue 70 - January 2018 | Page 86

NEWYEAR
GET YOUR LIFE back
in balance cont.
Family/Relationships
Ensuring that you dedicate as much time to your important
relationships as you do to your job is a slow and steady
transition that won’t be achieved overnight. It will make all
the difference eventually though. A good starting point is to
make a note of important dates – birthdays, anniversaries
etc – and actually do something to mark them; even an
e-card is better than no card at all. Make sure you transfer
them at the end of the year when you get a new calendar or
diary too.
Make sure that your loved ones know where your priorities
lie and do everything you can to let them see that they are
your first choice. Be specific here too – it’s better all round
to state that you’re going to spend an hour alone with each
of your children at least once a week than to say that you’re
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going to try and spend more quality time with each of them. Quality time is a
brilliant concept, but it’s also a vague one, so unless you’re clear, it’s hard to
quantify whether or not you’ve accomplished that goal. Children are so wonderfully
perceptive and know instantly if your mind starts to wander, so it’s important to
show them that they are deserving of your undivided attention.
Communication with your partner is absolutely key to keeping your
relationship on a positive track and if something’s not making you happy,
you should chat about it. Sharing a life (and your personal space) with another
person is an incredible balancing act in itself that involves not only individual
strength, but interactive support, so if you're bearing all the weight, you won’t
find harmony. Equally important, when someone is making you happy, tell them
– it doesn’t matter if your other half always does the same chores; if you take a
minute to appreciate that they’ve done them, a little appreciation will make a
huge difference to how they feel.