(If you're reaching this page from Hub Pages or a search engine, you're on Part 2. Click here to start at the beginning of this series.)

If you're looking for balance, the first thing you're going to have to do is to decide what it is you want to be when you grow up.

There might be hundreds of things that interest you - For example, I think I'd be equally intrigued by archeology, science, financial planning, counseling, teaching, law, medicine, ghost hunting and party planning to name just a random few.

But while these fields might peak my interest the truth is, I'm a writer at heart. After that, I'd like to garden and maybe do something artistic. And of course, I want the flexibility and convenience to do it without sacrificing my family in the process.

Impossible?

Don't be so sure. Before you write your dreams off as mere flights of fancy, take a serious look at how you can create the life you really want.

And that starts with knowing exactly what that life would be.

If you could be anything, do anything, what would it be? Write down what a day in your perfect life would look like.

Would you be rich or just financially comfortable? Would you spend your time at a beach or riding horseback through the mountains? Where would you live? What would you do? How would you spend the moments that make up your life?

Now, somewhere in that description, you'll have to include a source of income. Are you a novelist? A power seller on eBay? Maybe you make unique works of art from metal out in your garage.

Give it some thought. Think about where your talents lie and what interests you the most. How could you turn those things into a real source of income?

Now that you know what you would do, take a look at where you are right now. What pieces of the puzzle are missing?

You can't very well claim to be unhappy with your life if you don't know what changes need to be made.

Do you want more time with your family? The ability to make those parent-teacher conferences or attend little Billy's baseball games? Maybe you'd like to take an active role in the PTA, have more flexiblity to take a few vacations or just be home when your kids get out of school. Deciding what's important to you will help you start to shape your path.

How?

Up until about six months ago, I worked as a full-time freelancer in addition to having a full-time office job. I did it because I was afraid to let go of the security that the corporate world offered (steady paychecks are really nice :) and because even though I was exhausted at the end of the day, there was something very liberating about making some cash from doing the thing I loved the most: writing. In fact, the writing did so well that we were able to sell our house in the city and buy our dream house in the country. I was feeling pretty pleased, to say the least.

But with two kids, two jobs and a long, long drive home, the life I had created for myself brought me little joy. I dreaded Mondays more than ever and I even began to resent my extra freelance work. I didn't have time to enjoy all the experiences that my new home had to offer. Something, somewhere had to give and if I wasn't careful, it was going to be me.

So, what I did was sit down and look at what was really important. The office job offered some security sure enough but I also knew from past experience (read Part 1) that job security didn't really exist. Continuing to do both was out of the question because I was ready to have some freedom and flexibility in my life. I wanted to greet my kids when they came home from school. I wanted more than just a weekend to clean the house, do the laundry and catch up on any personal projects I might have in mind.

What I wanted I realized, couldn't be offered by my office job and I knew what I had to do: find a way to let go of the corporate world and take my freelancing full time.

Once I had the goal in sight, getting there became an adventure. I looked for new ways to promote my freelancing business and I started branching out so that I could appeal to a wider client base.

And that's exactly what you have to do.

Maybe you need to take some classes to get the skills you need for the job you want. Maybe the only thing standing between you and a new career is a website and some advertising on Yahoo! and Google. Maybe you don't want to leave the corporate world, but you'd sure like some flexibility in the hours that you work.

Figure it out. Decide what it is you want. And then map out the steps you'll need to take to get you there.

What comes next?

As you work toward your new and much desired life, here's a few quick ways to finding some happiness and creating that all-important balance.