Hard and soft boundaries

What is your hard boundary?

Last week I wrote about the importance of boundaries and their potential to shape your life for the better. Filtering out your priorities and allowing yourself to be fully present and show up for those around you – when it actually matters.

In the context of setting boundaries, you have soft and hard boundaries. Soft boundaries being ones that are more flexible and reliant on external surroundings. For example, if you say that you want to make a habit out of closing out your work day at 17:00 rather than 18:00 this may be dependent on the quality of communication with your team and the level of trust within the organization. It may require you to adjust your morning routine and start earlier, or to invest more time in briefing your team to ensure the completion of necessary tasks within a shortened time frame of supervision and support. On the other hand, hard boundaries are ones you keep yourself to more strictly. They are boundaries that you take full ownership of and will have a greater impact on your life, schedule, and workload. These are non-negotiables. Think of them as promises you make to yourself, such as reserving weekends for family, friends, and personal leisure only.

The way you assign hard and soft boundaries to your priorities may change over time, depending on how your own values change, your life circumstances, and your self-development at work and home. As you become more familiar and comfortable with setting boundaries, you will find that some are more valuable to you than others, helping you come closer to the person you want to be, and the impact you want to make.