On Motivation, Managing Your Emotions & Finding Balance When Engaging With Social Media: Vicky’s Story

Season 3, Episode 1 of ‘ A Fine Balance – The Podcast’ – Out Now

Do you ever feel like you’re dragging your heels in getting started with something?

Does your to-do list stare back at you as a reminder of all the things that you need to get done but haven’t made time for yet? And does that in turn create a sense of overwhelm, which skews your sense of work-life balance?

If so, my latest podcast episode could be just what you need to help get yourself on track to finding your balance in 2024.

My guest this time is the wellness business mentor, self-belief coach, and host of the podcast “Just Start Now”, Vicky Shilling.

This is not the first time I’ve considered “to-do lists” on this blog. In June 2023, I shared the work-life balance story of Kerry* (*not her real name), a solo mum who worked in a job-sharing senior management role. Kerry described how her to-do list, which was “already unachievable before I’ve even started”, cast a heavy, overbearing shadow over everything in her life, sapping the joy from it.

Vicky, on the other hand, is a person who thrives on getting things done and finds balance through taking control of both her to-do list, and her emotions.

In this episode, Vicky shares some practical tips on summoning up the motivation to get things started in your life, and how “taking control” of your emotions can help provide clarity when setting your priorities.

Part of that is also taking control of how you allow your engagement with social media to skew your balance. With a sizeable social media following, Vicky shares some of the pitfalls that engaging in social media can bring, and the challenges consumers of it face when being bombarded by messages that can easily veer towards comparison and self-doubt.

Besides her professional advice about how listeners can find their balance in the new year, following the guiding principles of her podcast “Just Start Now”, Vicky shares her personal work-life balance story on this episode too. She describes what it’s like pursuing balance as a career driven mother, and how, now expecting her second child, pregnancy has impacted her sense of balance.

We also touch on the experience of being a child of divorced parents and how that experience influenced Vicky’s work-life balance decisions later on in life.

As an avid listener of Vicky’s podcast, throughout this episode I try to keep a lid on my excitement (and nerves) at interviewing an experienced podcaster whose work I have enjoyed. Vicky did not disappoint; her willingness to be open and vulnerable, as well as provide explicit practical advice, provided lots of food for thought, and tips for facing the year ahead with motivation and a positive mental attitude.

As such, there’s lots for listeners to take away, whatever time of year they happen to tune in to this episode. And it feels like the perfect note on which to kickstart Season 3 of ‘A Fine Balance – The Podcast’.