The Balance Lie: Why You Feel Like You’re Never “Enough”

Balance is the biggest lie sold to modern mothers.

If you’re a working mum, chances are you’ve spent years chasing this idea of “balance” that mythical moment where work and life finally sit perfectly at 50/50 and everything feels calm.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: Balance, as we’ve been sold, doesn’t exist. Not in the way we imagine it. Not in motherhood. Not in modern corporate life. Yet this impossible ideal is exactly why so many women feel like they’re falling short... all the time.

You’re not failing at balance. Balance is failing you.

The Problem With the 50/50 Myth

Balance suggests two equal sides, perfectly weighted. But real life doesn’t operate like that.

Some seasons demand more from your work. Some seasons demand more from your family. Some seasons demand more from you - your health, your creativity, your rest.

When we cling to the idea that everything should be equal all the time, we set ourselves up to feel:

• guilty

• overwhelmed

• behind

• “not enough”

And it’s no wonder so many working mums end up on the hamster wheel – sprinting, striving, and still feeling stuck in the same rut. The issue isn’t your effort. It’s the model you’re measuring yourself against.

What You Really Need: Vision, Not Balance

Balance without direction just becomes exhaustion. Before we talk boundaries or time management or work/life anything, we have to step back and ask: What actually matters in this season of your life? What needs more of you and why? What are you building toward?

This is where everything changes.

When you’re clear on:

• your personal goals

• your values

• the kind of mother you want to be

• the kind of leader you want to be

• where you want your career to go

…then balance stops being a battle and becomes a strategy.

Because now you’re not trying to give everything equal weight. You’re giving the right things your attention, intentionally, based on a vision only you can define.

It Won’t Always Be Equal, But It Will Always Be Yours

A balanced life isn’t a 50/50 split. It’s a life aligned with the choices that move you forward toward a place you have chosen.

Some weeks you’ll lean heavily into work because there’s something important happening. Some weeks your kids will need more of you. Some moments you’ll need to prioritise yourself without guilt.

This is real balance as it honours your vision, not an outdated ideal.

You’re Not Meant to Do It All Equally. You’re Meant to Do It Intentionally.

When you stop chasing the balance lie, you stop feeling like you’re constantly behind.

You step out of the rut. You step off the hamster wheel. And you start moving, deliberately, toward a life and career that fit you, not the other way around.

This is what I help women build through 34Sevn: clarity, strategy, confidence, and sustainable systems that support you in the season you’re in, and where you’re going next.

Take this as the sign you've been waiting for to stop striving for perfect balance. You need direction and when you have it, you'll finally feel like you’re enough, because you’re living a life designed on purpose, not pressure.

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