The former Arsenal trainee has looked comfortable at Premier League level this term.
With Sunderland sitting tenth on the table, Ballard told BBC Sport NI: "I probably surprised myself with how well we've done in the Premier League, remaining in the team and doing well has been an added bonus.
"There's always doubt when you play in a new league. The step up to the Premier League, you know how tough it can be.
"Certain players struggled in the past, we signed a lot of players, there's lots of competition and it might not have worked out, but I was really determined in pre-season and wanting to show the manager, the team and the fans I can play in this league and I think I've done that so far."
Ballard added: "Our goal is to stay in the division, we have not achieved that yet so I think we're trying to get there as quickly as possible.
"We've got through a really busy Christmas period and we have some good points on the board, but we have a full half of the season to go so we're trying to reset and get back to what we're really strong at and hopefully we can achieve staying in the league as early as possible and who knows from there."