How to Empower Yourself to Live the Best Life Possible

Posted on Balanced Lifestyle | January 16, 2012 | 4 Comments

By Anastasiya Goers

How are you planning to reach your biggest goal?

We all have goals/dreams that we say “I really want to do this. This is THE THING for me.” However, whenever we think about these goals we always find a reason why it is not the right time to start working towards them. This goal can be as big as writing a bestseller , as trivial as starting a healthy lifestyle or as painful as getting over a nagging family conflict.

When I first opened BalanceInMe I really didn’t have a plan on how to run it or what to write about. The design was horrible. My writing was not much better and frankly speaking as I look back to those days I didn’t have many chances of surviving as a blogger and realizing my dream of touching the lives of thousands of people.
However, I was lucky because I chose a topic for the blog that helped me improve as well. My passion for balanced living empowered me to become a better writer, to get over my fears and to be grateful for the most bitter critique (one of the top bloggers reviewed my site back in those days and his reaction was “It’s horrible all over.”)

How do you fuel your goal or your motivation towards joyous and fulfilling living?

Balance it more »

How to Stop Fear from Controlling Your Life

Posted on Balanced Lifestyle, Book Reviews/Interviews | January 10, 2012 | 6 Comments

By Anastasiya Goers

How do you overcome fear? That’s a difficult question.

Three years ago I moved to the US not quite comprehending that living here will depend on my ability to drive. I drove a few times in Ukraine (my native country) but I was never an independent driver. When the plane landed and my in-laws picked all of us up we drove down a huge 5-lane interstate with a 70mph speed limit in rush hour. I was terrified.

Thankfully my husband was very patient with me while teaching me how to drive. In Ukraine I drove a tiny VW Rabbit and in the US I had to get used to a ginormous Toyota 4Runner (at least that’s how it seemed to me back then.) I was terrified of getting out on the road in this huge tank that I felt I had no control of. And most importantly I was afraid of other cars on the road (every time a jacked up Ford F-350 flew by I felt my heart sink into my heels.) I couldn’t even imagine taking my girls (the most precious cargo) anywhere in the car by myself.

It took me two years to start driving independently. Some might call me a slow learner but it was the time I needed to overcome my fear and become comfortable behind the wheel of a car.

Do you have fears that you have to overcome?

Some of our fears are obvious (like mine) but others can disguise themselves as excuses, traditions, habits and many other things. If I hadn’t learned to drive a car then I obviously couldn’t have survived normally in the US (unless my husband and I struck oil and we could hire a private chauffeur to take me anywhere.) I had no choice but overcome this fear.

Overcoming some fears is not imperative to our survival though (like a fear of public speaking – the number 1 fear or a fear of starting your own business.) However living with those fears robs us of the possibilities that we are capable of, it robs of realizing our potential and living a bold and fulfilling life. Balance it more »

Why You Don’t Need Balance in Life

Posted on Balanced Lifestyle, Balanced Mind and Soul | January 4, 2012 | 2 Comments

By Anastasiya Goers

Do you want to live your life in balance? Well, you shouldn’t. I know, it sounds crazy but wait a little.

For a second imagine that you are in a huge thick forest with birds chirping over your head, nice breeze running through your hair and warm sun rays playing on your hands and face. There is a huge oak tree in this forest and one day two acorns fell off of it.

One acorn hit the rock and ricocheted towards a nearby stream, went downstream and finally fell into fertile soil on a nice open clearing. The acorn sprouted roots and grew into a mighty oak tree even stronger than its “father.”

Another acorn fell on the ground and one day strong wind picked it up, dragged it across the forest until it reached a cliff. The acorn fell down but fortunately got stuck between two huge boulders in a little piece of dirt. It sprouted roots too and started growing slowly every day enduring harsh winds, ruthless sun and constant lack of nutrition. It grew into a crooked dwarfish tree that was weak. The bigger the tree grew the more nutrition and support it needed however there was not enough soil between those boulders to provide for its needs. The oak started withering down and losing its strength until one day a strong wind finally broke it.

If you look at both of the trees one would seem like a true masterpiece of nature: harmonious and balanced. The other one will look like a feat of survival doomed to lose its balance from the first days it started growing. Balance it more »

9 Last-Minute Gifts that Keep on Giving

Posted on Balanced Body, Balanced Lifestyle, Balanced Nutrition, Balanced Relationship | December 22, 2011 | 5 Comments

By Anastasiya Goers

Did you ever have to think of a last-minute present? It’s stressful!

Maybe you got really busy at work and completely forgot to order the gift.

Maybe your gift can’t be delivered on time (it happened to me before.)

Or maybe the gift that you carefully picked out is simply not available at the stores right now (I wanted to give my husband a pair of running shoes one year and of course none of the nearby stores carries his size.)

And maybe sometimes you just want to give something extra special to a person you love but no matter how many sleepless nights you spend thinking about the present you still can’t come up with anything even remotely close to the perfect gift.

If you are in this situation this year then I have several very interesting and balanced gift ideas that I would like to share with you. Even if you got all presents under the tree already you can still keep reading to see if there is something that you want to give yourself this season (after all, taking care of yourself is a vitally important part of living a life of balance.) Balance it more »

Where Do You Find Answers for Life’s Hardest Questions?

Posted on Balanced Mind and Soul, Book Reviews/Interviews | December 20, 2011 | 27 Comments

By Anastasiya Goers

Did you ever ask yourself a hard question? Something beyond “What am I going to have for supper?” or “How can I get a promotion at work?”

I’ve been in a situation before when a long-term relationship wasn’t working out and the only question on my mind was “Why are relationships so hard?”

Another time my plans were ruined and I felt completely helpless. My question then was “Does everything happen for a reason? Because I definitely don’t see any reason for THIS.”

And sometimes I read news headlines or simply hear a heart-breaking story that makes me wonder “Why is there suffering in the world?”

Did you ever ask yourself questions like that?

About a month ago I got an email from Lori Deschene from Tiny Buddha asking if I would like to review her book Tiny Buddha: Simple Wisdom for Life’s Hard Questions. I am usually very picky about the books that I agree to review but this one was a no-brainer. I’ve been following Tiny Buddha for about 2 years now and my posts were featured there twice (click here and here to read them.) Of course I was excited about reading Lori’s book and actually finding answers to the questions mentioned above.

The book exceeded all my expectations. From the first sentences you get completely absorbed into smooth flow of Lori’s writing and it only gets better as you travel from one page to the next one. The book is interwoven with personal experiences from Lori’s life, age-old wisdom, tweets from Lori’s followers and practical tips (and you know that I am all about practical advice.) I simply loved it! Balance it more »