Putting in some extra effort at work can pay off. You can get a promotion or a raise, or wind up on a choice project. The same goes with your personal finances -- going the extra mile can help you pay off a debt early or save up for a purchase.
You can push through to success in just about anything. But once you’ve achieved your goal, it can be hard to keep up that level of effort. In order to find balance, you have to find a way to keep that momentum going, without driving yourself over the edge.
Keeping up an extreme pace for weeks or even months can turn your extraordinary effort into something that you consider quite normal. That can make it hard to take a step back and decide whether you can really keep up this level of effort. However, it’s a necessary step.
Life isn’t a balance sheet, but you can tell the difference between your lifestyle at a project’s beginning and at its end. Depending on the benefits, you may decide that keeping up your exertion is well worth it. But, then again, you might decide that you need to reintroduce yourself to a few things that have been missing in your life.
Once you’ve got an idea of how far you’ll go to maintain your success, you can go about reintroducing balance to your life. You may need to inform a few people, though. If you’ve been putting in 12-hour workdays, it’s probably a good idea to inform your boss that you won’t be doing that anymore.
With a little care, all that extra effort won’t become an every day expectation. If you’re willing to prioritize other parts of your life, you can build on your successes and keep some momentum without working yourself to the point of going crazy.