The Rubik's Level of Parenting

When my kids were young, managing the family calendar felt a bit like those old sliding games.

You start with a jumbled mess but if you sit and look at the calendar long enough you can work out how to get from school to swimming and back to ballet on a Tuesday so that Soccer can happen on a Thursday.

With a younger family if you look at the calendar long enough, and slide and juggle, you can line it all up okay...

But then without warning.

The game levels up.

Suddenly in the teen years you’re dealing with a 6 faced cube.

Make a move on one side and it feels like you’re messing up the other.

It feels like when you focus on family, work suffers, and when you focus on work, family suffers and....

...that’s before you have time to think about the self care everyone tells you that you need.

But while it’s not an easy puzzle to solve during the “middle age squeeze” years,

...it is possible to create growth in both work and home without sacrificing anyone’s sanity.

I can’t solve a rubik’s cube, but I’ve been told that you start by looking at the colour of the square in the middle of each side.

This square shows you the colour of that face when the cube is solved.

It’s like an anchor point, a goal for that side of the rubik’s cube.

In the same way, the key to helping you solve your family rubik’s cube is to have anchor points on each side.

Anchor for parenting - teens need connection with their parents, it’s the foundation of resilience
Anchor for work - meaningful contribution and financial compensation
Anchor for self - we don’t build a meaningful business or healthy family at the expense of emotional wellbeing of yourself

Research shows if the tasks we perform at work feel pointless it drains our sense of agency and can lead to burnout even if the tasks aren’t demanding or draining.

Your work doesn’t have to be saving the world, but if it feels pointless it will effect your life, wellbeing and relationships.

Like the rubik’s cube.

It’s only winning when all sides are anchored to their colours.

I’m interested, which side of your rubik’s is feeling most difficult for you at the moment?