Work-Life Balance is the way for daily joy and a recipe for a more happy and healthy life.
…These days on those missions, workers are choosing work-life balance, joy, self-care, wellness, and delaying gratification of traditional retirement. Because our world has changed, and you can work anywhere these days.
And you can create your own job in the growing Creator Economy.
That’s one hopeful and healthy reminder that you can do anything in this Life. And a small way to plant your intention is by growing an avocado plant. 🥑
The easy steps are below to grow a healthy plant from an avocado seed. 🌱
Small ideas like this encourage our daily joy that help move you to take action (that moves the needle).
And if you’re at a job that started great and then took a downward spiral or is stagnant, you are not alone!
So many are waiting on their DREAM JOB to show up and out.
From my lens of holding dozens of corporate management positions, it doesn’t exist. I hoped and hoped… and still hope, but evolved into writing my own job description that has given me more joy.
And you can do that today wherever you are to gain your happiness without delay in your dream work-life balance life… and doing what you’re meant to do… creating, helping others, and solving world problems.
Without delay.
You can hit publish, empower yourself to step in, or pick up the phone and connect. The world is big and wide and you don’t have to look far.
Working for an employer is jut one way that helps you get experiences and learn skills while contributing your time, effort, labor, and mind. And you get paid in exchange.
But empowering yourself as your own boss in your domains is the cherry-on-top… where you get the best of all worlds and feel unhindered.
And when you think of it like that, you can create so much good exchange in this world.
And also always be useful doing meaningful work. That helps your growth.
And when work doesn’t grow or we’re no longer contributing, then we know it’s time to move on… and that’s healthy good for everyone involved.
…And if you’re like me, or maybe I’m odd (or old-er 😉)… I never want to retire. I think work is part of purpose and the right kind helps us stay young.
Redefining work is where it’s at!
I believe you should love working your passions, interests, and gifts you’re good at that you enjoy.
Maybe because I’ve had so many experiences, both good and bad.
Early on, I loved my teen job where I had very little responsibilities.
That was good for that youthful time. I had fun. And the reward was development and growth and taking on new, impactful challenges while saving money to buy a car.
But I wouldn’t go back to that as I’ve outgrown those fun, no-real responsibility jobs. It doesn’t suit or align with my identity. It’s a mis-match like wearing Love’s Baby Soft fragrance would be.
And finding where you fit now is where you get the most out of this world.
At some point, you fully realize that you only have this one life you get and you won’t get this time back.
And that you have so much more to give than a lowly position that’s replaceable by another body or teen.
You’ve gathered experiences, and grown into a wiser brain that can be put to good use for the world you and I share.
In my walk, that’s the realization I had disappointment after disappointment collected, one job role after another for a couple decades.
I didn’t feel like my contributions and impact was commensurate to my knowledge and what I had to offer the world.
The corporate jobs at-hand sucked all my energy and most my hours for the week.
So I kept going and growing, even though the jobs looked respectable and good on paper.
And I eventually landed myself into freelance writing work the year of the pandemic when many of us career pivoted.
I also started this healthy and happy blog that year.
As a writer, I found work-life balance that didn’t just mean working from home. That’s one aspect or benefit.
It also meant choosing to prioritize health, and a healthy lifestyle over stress (high Pitta).
I could write all morning and then be ready for something else in the afternoon. I wasn’t chained to a desk or forced to attend office meetings that wouldn’t matter in a year (or sometimes even the next day).
There was work-life balance in every way.
I could find emotional freedom feeling calm during unplanned yoga time and not have to wait until later.
And I could run errands when others were at work.
I could also avoid public mobs and heavy traffic patterns that I grew up with in the DC metro area, that’s now the worst traffic.
And staying aligned, I vowed never to work jobs without some (healthy and happy) passion EVER again… and/or loving or believing in the people and mission I work directly for.
I realized work-life balance with PASSION WORK EXISTS where you get paid for your efforts. It’s not a pipe dream.
That was my new HIGH bar to keep reaching for.
…And I haven’t been disappointed putting in the risk and effort tradeoff.
And if you were to reach for your abundance and believe your dreams to come true, balance and passion work EXISTS for you!
You can leapfrog to work-life balance sooner rather than later in your choice.
…From those who did, I’ve only heard that the only regret they had was that they didn’t do it sooner!
Maybe that’s the motivation you need.
And helpfully could be for you… am I wrong?
Some are consciously walking off the job for their personal lives, health, and safety… choosing work-life balance and creating the life they want in work, life, and balance.
People on the job these days have to wear so many different work hats while multi-tasking life.
It’s no wonder so many people have ADHD signs, brain fog, and burn out symptoms that they need to medicate.
Today post-2020, it’s much more acceptable for us to slow down, take self-care sabbatical time, and pivot work and careers more often without harsh judgment.
And in my work-life balance pivot to a healthy lifestyle, I started this hobby of growing healthy avocado plants as a metaphor…
How to Grow an Avocado Plant from a Seed (a healthy reminder for work-life balance)
…One day I took a baby avocado seed and grew it to an avocado plant after my breakfast with a plant-based avocado smoothie.
It’s such an easy thing to do.
You don’t need a green thumb.
And the plant doesn’t need much window space or light in case you’re in an apartment with limitations like I was.
An avocado plant is like a Peace Lily plant you sometimes see in offices. They do not need a lot of natural or artificial light, so you can enjoy them indoor in a shaded spot. 🌱
These are the steps to how you get your plant going and growing:
Rinse off your avocado seed. Peel off the brown paper-ish skin shell. I think this step gets often missed from others I’ve talked to. This helps to let the root grow.
Your nails are the better way to get the shell off without scratching the seed.
So you’ll want to do this when you haven’t just gotten your nails done. 💅
Then when you have a bald seed, you’ll see it bare looking like a peanut (light beige) color in a walnut shape.
You’ll want to fully moisten some paper towel and wrap over the seed, and then place the wet seed in a plastic bag and leave alone in a cool/shaded spot in your kitchen where you visit often.
Leave for a week or two, and then check in on it. By week two, add more water if needed. Keep it soaked.
After some more time, you’ll start to see a crack in the avocado seed and a budding root.
The fault line means birth is happening (a happy baby seed 🌱).
When the root grows to about a thumbnail’s length, place 3 toothpicks in the seed and prop it over water in a glass or cup with fresh room temperature filtered water reaching the root.
Keep it in a shaded spot.
Keep checking and filling up the water to about the same level, and changing out if it looks cloudy and has too much debris.
If you notice any root rot or slime, gently clean it off and you can rinse your seed off if the water gets dirty.
Gradually over the weeks and months, move your new baby avocado to a sunnier spot indoors. And when your glass is full and you have substantial roots growing, plant into a larger glass so the roots aren’t crowded.
The avocado plant is an amphibian plant (living in water and then soil).
Eventually, after months or years will go into potting soil. I waited 2 years before planting mine in soil.
Waiting until there are leaves is a good idea.
Keep this article as reference, so you can review the steps (and not get too antsy to plant in a soiled pot). 🪴
And the longer you keep your growing avocado plant living in water instead of dirt, the stronger the roots get before you give it life on earth soil. This ensures stability for growth.
After a few months or so, you’ll see some good progress with green leaves and a stem that goes up and root that goes down like described in the cute All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten book 😉
A few leaves are the sign to add a pot with soil.
You can water every few weeks or less. Do it when you remember (ssshhh, talk about low maintenance! This plant is great for brown thumbs (🙋🏻♀️), lazy gardeners, or frequent travelers… and no worries, as you don’t need a plant sitter!).
Daily or weekly, check in with your plants when you can pause and work-life balance. 🪴 The leaves will tell you if it needs water.
Grow an Easy Avocado Plant
Materials
- drinking container or glass
- toothpicks
- paper towel
Instructions
- Clean off your seed. Larger round to medium seeds work better.
- Peel off the brown outer layer so you see the bare seed flesh that has a peachy flesh color. Tip: Do this when before you go to the nail salon as you will need to use your finger nails. Knives and sharp objects won't do the job without damaging the seed. It may be easier to wet soak the outer layer first to make it easier to peel off.
- Take partial paper towel and full soak seed with water. Wrap around the entire seed, but don't leave too much excess paper.
- Place the seed in a sealed plastic bag (works best) and set in a darker, cool room temperature place in a place you don't forget about.
- When the paper towel starts to dry out over the days, moisten with fresh filtered water. Keep repeating this step. One day you will see a middle crack in the seed. This is to allow the root to sprout and grow that can take a few weeks. Be patient! And if your seed crack breaks the seed (no worries and don't give up), keep the seed half that has the root.
- When you see an obvious root bud growing, you can place 3 toothpicks evenly around the seed and set in a drinking glass or container with a rim. Glass works nicely so you can see the roots from the outside. Then add water so the bottom and middle of the seed is "bathing" in the water, but the top of the seed does not need to be submerged in water.
- Over more weeks, you will see a green stem grow upward and eventually leaves will sprout (months later). Enjoy and keep adding water to your glass as your seed roots are thirsty. The roots will eventually outgrow the glass where you may then choose to transplant to a larger vessel. This is a great easy project for the Kindergardener in each of us where the roots go down and the plant goes up!
