The Holistic Approach to Creating Balance
We speak about balance as if it were a static point we can reach and stay in forever — a perfectly poised moment where everything in life is in order, every plate is spinning smoothly, and nothing feels overwhelming. But in truth, balance is not a fixed destination. It is not a golden prize waiting at the end of the productivity rainbow. It is a living, breathing dance.
Some days balance looks like stillness — a cup of tea in the quiet morning, a walk that brings you back to your body, a pause that interrupts the relentless rush. Other days it looks like a steady flow — a rhythm where work and play move together with ease. And sometimes, balance is the messy, beautiful act of catching ourselves just before we tip too far in one direction, recognising the wobble and finding our footing again.
The real key to cultivating balance is not simply managing our time or our tasks. It isn’t found in a colour-coded diary or a perfectly organised to-do list, though those tools can help. Balance begins deeper than that. It begins in how we think about our lives. It lives in our mindset, the intentions we carry into our choices, and the way we plan our days, weeks, and seasons.
When our mind is aligned with our values, our priorities are infused with meaning. When our planning reflects the ebb and flow of our real life rather than an imagined ideal, balance stops feeling like something we chase. It becomes something we create. Something we choose, moment by moment, with care.
Balance Begins in the Mind
Before we ever write a to-do list or schedule an hour in the diary, we are already shaping our sense of balance through our thoughts. The way we frame balance in our minds sets the tone for how it will feel in our bodies and our days.
If we see balance as perfection — as a flawless arrangement where nothing is ever late, messy, or overwhelming — then we will forever feel like we are failing. We will hold ourselves to an impossible standard that collapses under the weight of life’s unpredictability.
But if we see balance as presence — as a daily practice of listening, adjusting, and aligning — then it becomes an act of self-trust. It becomes flexible, forgiving, and responsive. Balance becomes less about holding everything perfectly, and more about trusting ourselves to notice when we’re leaning too far in one direction and gently guide ourselves back.
The second aspect of your mindset around balance is what you choose to prioritise first. This is a subtle shift, but it makes all the difference.
What is the first thing you map into your week when you sit down to plan?
If it’s your work, then things will automatically be out of balance. Work will always expand to fill the space you give it. But if you begin with you — your workouts, meditation, quiet time, moments to switch off and refill your cup — and then fit your work commitments around that, you are far more likely to feel nourished, grounded, and steady. In fact, research shows you are around 80% more likely to maintain balance when your self-care is scheduled first.
Your mindset is the filter through which you decide:
What is important today?
What can wait?
What truly matters in the bigger picture of my life?
If your priorities are inherited from others’ expectations, cultural pressure, or comparison, balance will always feel elusive. It will always slip just out of reach, because it isn’t your version of balance you’re pursuing — it’s someone else’s.
But when you choose priorities rooted in your own values, your own needs, and your own season of life, balance feels like something you can breathe into. Something fluid, natural, and real.
This begins with honesty. Ask yourself:
What matters most to me right now — not forever, not ideally, but in this season?
Life is cyclical. What is front and centre this month may shift next month. What you need in autumn may be very different from what you need in spring. Balance honours this. It allows your priorities to evolve without guilt. It trusts that there is a rhythm to your life that is worth listening to.
The Power of Intention
Intention is what transforms action into aligned action.
Without it, even the most beautifully organised schedule can leave you feeling depleted and disconnected. You can tick every box and still go to bed with the sense that something essential was missing.
Intention asks us to slow down enough to consider not just what we’re doing, but why. It helps us infuse even the smallest task with meaning. Two people can have identical daily plans — the same meetings, the same errands, the same commitments — and feel entirely different by the end of the day. The difference? One moved through the day with intention, the other from obligation.
Intention doesn’t require hours of deep ritual. It can be as simple as pausing before you open your laptop to ask: What energy do I want to bring into this next task? It can be taking three breaths before you enter a room to remind yourself: I choose to show up with presence here.
Before you begin your day or your week, try taking a few moments to set an intention. Ask yourself:
How do I want to feel as I move through my days?
What energy do I want to bring to my work, my relationships, my self-care?
Where can I make space for what nourishes me?
When we move from this place, our schedule becomes a supportive container instead of a source of stress. The same commitments that once felt heavy can feel purposeful when infused with conscious intention.
Intention makes even the busiest weeks feel like they are carrying you, not crushing you.
Planning as an Act of Alignment
Planning is often sold as a purely practical act — a way to fit more in, be more efficient, or stay “on top” of life. But planning can be so much more than that. When approached holistically, planning becomes a practice of aligning your inner world with your outer commitments.
It is not about squeezing yourself into a rigid structure. It is about creating a rhythm that reflects your truth.
Rather than filling every slot in the calendar, start with the spaciousness you need. Begin by protecting your non-negotiables: the things that nourish and restore you — rest, movement, creative time, moments with loved ones. Then place your other commitments around them.
This is where seasonal and cyclical planning becomes powerful. When you plan in harmony with natural rhythms — the seasons, your own energy cycles, even the Moon phases — your schedule begins to mirror the truth of how you live best.
Spring invites new projects and fresh beginnings. Summer carries energy for growth and visibility. Autumn calls us inward, into refinement and release. Winter asks for stillness, reflection, and deep rest.
When you weave these rhythms into your planning, balance stops being about endless productivity and starts becoming about harmony. You no longer force yourself to bloom in winter or to hibernate in summer. You let your planning reflect the living cycles of both the natural world and your inner world.
And yes — even with the best mindset, clear intentions, and thoughtful planning, there will be days or whole seasons when balance feels impossible. This doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It simply means you are human.
During these times, remember:
Balance is dynamic. It’s about adjustment, not perfection.
Small recalibrations matter. A five-minute pause can shift the energy of your whole day.
Let go to make room. Sometimes balance is less about adding and more about releasing what no longer fits.
Balance is not the absence of chaos. It is the presence of conscious choice within the chaos.
Your Mindset + Intention + Planning Formula
Think of balance as a formula:
Mindset → Intention → Planning → Balance
Mindset gives you the lens through which you see your life.
Intention gives your actions purpose.
Planning gives your values a place in your daily reality.
When all three are aligned, balance naturally emerges.
And when one is out of step, it isn’t a failure. It’s an invitation — to pause, to reflect, to recalibrate.
Instead of striving for a “perfectly balanced life,” choose to cultivate a responsive life. One where your priorities shift with your seasons, your intentions shape your actions, and your planning honours your energy.
This is the holistic way. The way of listening, adjusting, and aligning from the inside out.
Balance is not found in the overwhelm of endless productivity or the number of tasks you check off the mile-long to-do list. It is found in the quiet moments when you realise your outer life reflects your inner truth.
And that, more than anything, is the kind of balance worth creating.
The Tools to Support You
This is the balance my work was created for — to allow you to find your balance using seasonal, holistic tools that guide you in honing your intentions, creating sustainable goals, and aligning your energy with the ebbs and flows of the seasons.
The Aligned Planner is one of these tools: a beautiful and powerful companion to help you step onto this seasonal, sustainable, and soulful way of curating your life. It isn’t about cramming more into your days. It’s about weaving your values, your intentions, and your energy into the fabric of your daily rhythm.
This is a planner that helps you to walk in alignment and rhythm with the seasons, the movements of the moon, and the astrology we work through as the year unfolds. Beautifully designed and illustrated, and thoughtfully crafted so you can plan and live with intention and ease.
Pre-orders will be opening very soon, and I cannot wait to share this year’s design with you. For now, don’t forget to join the waitlist so you receive all the updates, insights, and special bonuses first.
And remember, Balance is not something you chase. It is something you create.
xo Emily
