A balanced life-getting it is like ...

A balanced life-getting it is like squeezing a bar of soap in the bathtub. You can obtain it, but keeping it is hard to do; and formerly you've lost it, it's tough to acquire it back. Most people have a understanding of what a balanced life is-the hard part is actually trying to achieve it. Balanced living is our theme this issue, and Val Sharp, CA, has contributed an article about checking the alignment between your values and your daily life.

I've tried to achieve a balanced lifestyle in the past several years. I took onward a major time challenge in the last three years with the Institute, and I confes that I felt a brains of dread wondering how I was going to manage. I had a young family, an expanding practice, and was involved in a variety of community activities. It took me about a year to plan ahead. The biggest impact was not in like manner much on my own schedule, on the other hand on the schedules of others around me My wife Gera agreed to shoulder additional domestic responsibilities, and, in respond

I arranged certain times for exclusively looking after the children. I told my business partners that I look forward toed to disrupt their lives les than I would disrupt the lives of my support staff. I'm fortunate to have thoroughly good support at my firm, and several individuals have stepp up to the plate to take in succession a lot of responsibilities that used to be mine alone. I think it's been a professional challenge for them, unless that they've grown as a accrue

The experience has taught me to be a better delegator and to be more understanding of other ways to "skin the cat." As a inference I think I'm better at letting others "have their head" to find a way to obtain the job done. Much to my amazement, sometimes things finish done better that way.

For me an unexpect benefit of all of this juggling has been the improvement of my personal planning skills. I now am religious about booking vacations, weekends, and dinners revealed with family and friends. I've also discovered that if you volume a week off and suffer people know you're going to be away, it takes the compressing off of actually going. The Institute staff is great at planning my time well in advance and it makes fitting everything in in such a manner much easier.

No matter for what reason busy I get, I restrain my early morning racquetball game times "holy" equable booking meetings around them if I have to. I know that if I don't preserve exercising the stress levels prepare too high, and I'm no righteous for anyone after that. Making these game times "sacred" is just united of the ways I have knowledge of to create balance in my life.

We're looking for useful people to run for Council. We have a definite ne for members not in public practice, younger members, and members outside the Lower Mainland. We also ne CAs to offer for committees, forums, and advisory collections The time commitments and experience flats required (if any) vary.

If you're thinking of running for Council, I'd be excessively happy to chat to you about the commitments involved, having exhausted five years on Council. It looks like just yesterday

that I was humming and hawing about whether I should make the commitment! Being a Council member is challenging and extremely interesting, and I have to say that I've met many fine professionals in succession Council, the Institute staff, and over the province. I would encourage you to chat with a popular Council member, or with Richard Ree FCA, or myself to learn more. Please be stirred free to email us or give us a call:

* president@ica.bc.ca

* rees@ica.bc.ca

* The Institute's general telephone number: (604) 681-3264

Copyright Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia May 2001

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