Why Balance My Life?
Stress and anxiety are rising to astronomical levels in the western world, and we are finding it harder and harder to bring balance into our highly unbalanced lives. I call them the evil twins — and they both stem from self esteem issues. Anxiety is fear of the future. Stress is a failure to say no to others. But…what if it was possible to stop this unwanted cycle of anxiety, stress, fatigue and frustration that is slowly killing you? What if you could bring some balance into your life, and make positive shifts towards a healthy, happy future? Is this just a cruel myth, or is it possible?
While we all agree that healthy life balance means having the energy, drive and time to do the things we enjoy, and meet our mental and emotional health needs, we all have different visions of what healthy balance looks like. For one person, that might mean lots of time to read, while for another, that might mean spending long days at work, followed by night classes to get their degree so they can move forward in their career.
A few years ago I learned (the hard way) that nothing in life is ever as bad as it seems. Nothing is worth falling into a pit of stress, anxiety and personal chaos. When we live an anxious, stressed out and overwhelmed life, we tend not to look up and see what else is possible. Unless someone or something shakes us up and makes us see things from another perspective, we can easily fail to recognize even the most practical options that are available for us to bring calm and balance back in our lives.
Occasionally, during our brief time here on planet Earth, we experience an ah-ha moment that immediately changes the course of our lives forever. Most of those ah-ha moments result from our most significant life failures, not from our biggest successes.
Those ah-ha moments are lasting lessons that completely transform our perspective towards life (and especially life balance). People often assume that in order to achieve life balance, they will have to make radical, intimidating life changes, but that isn’t really true. Radical life changes can be difficult to implement, and are hard to stick to in the long term. I prefer to say “one step at a time”, because if we make gradual changes to one area of our lives at a time, it’s easier to make those changes permanent and lasting. An ancient proverb says, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”, and I couldn’t agree more — that first step is scary but also so, so rewarding.
You’ve probably known people who, at the end of their life, looked back on the life they lived, and said, “If only I’d done things differently…. If only I’d made better choices …. If only I’d spent more time with my family or kids …..” Unsuccessful lives are filled with “If only’s ….” The people who never truly lived have lives filled with these phrases.
Life is full of opportunities, if we are brave enough to take them. But, we have to take that chance in order to create that success. If we don’t take the risk, we will never achieve our ultimate goal — freedom from anxiety, stress and frustration.
The late personal development expert Stephen Covey once said: ‘Without a clear focus on our guiding values and priorities, each of us runs a real risk of successfully climbing a very long ladder only to find it leaning against the wrong wall.’ It’s a good reminder to always be paying attention to what is truly important to us, so that we can ensure that is what we are focusing our attention towards.
A healthy life balance allows you to be clear about your work (career, education, ambitions) and personal (health, leisure, relationships) priorities, and to keep them in perspective. No one’s life is perfect, and boundaries do get blurred sometimes, but the key is to always be seeking to bring things back to a balance that works for you. The strategies for doing this are what a life coach can bring to the table, to assist you with ensuring your priorities are never misplaced and you are better able to catch yourself before you fall “out of balance”.
There are certain key areas in life that are important for all of us, no matter who we are. These can be grouped as:
• Social & Family Relationships
• Career & Educational Aspirations
• Money & Personal Finances
• Physical Health, Recreation & Leisure
• Life’s Routine Responsibilities
• Giving Back to Society & Contribution
• Mental, Emotional & Inner Well Being
Different people, at different times in their lives, will place different importance on each area. The best way to ensure you maintain life balance, is to maintain an element of focus in all of these areas. And the best way to do THAT, is to talk to a life coach about what a life plan looks like,and how it will help you to find and maintain life balance, so you can be your best YOU! Join my free private Facebook group to learn more, and find an amazing group of caring women who are all working towards the goal of living lives they LOVE!
