The Right Approach to Life Balance

Life balance is commonly seen as the light at the end of the tunnel. It's the destination we desperately strive to get to, while we struggle to make progress in the darkness. At times we have hope that we can reach the light, while other times we fall into a pit, and lose sight of the light we are trying to reach. But life balance isn't the destination. It's the approach we take to deal with the challenges we face, and the torch we carry to help us better navigate our way in life. Think about this for a minute: Can you afford to put your health on hold, while seeking to bring your financial situation under control? And if you do manage to achieve financial success, what price did you have to pay to get there? Losing your health along the way to financial success doesn't sound like success to me. Besides, don't you think a healthy lifestyle contributes to your financial success, rather than take away from it? Don't you feel tired at times because you're not getting proper nutrition or sufficient physical exercise? So, wouldn't it make more sense to care for your health, in order to be better equipped in dealing with the demands of work? Our life areas aren't mutually exclusive. We can't put our health on hold while expecting to make professional progress, since our health will catch up with us, sooner or later. We can't push ourselves to work every day, without giving ourselves time to rest and pursue our hobbies. Otherwise, we risk losing our motivation to work, and experiencing early burnout. Life balance is about being aware of all our needs as human beings, and satisfying these needs on a consistent basis, without ignoring any life area, or focusing on one at the expense of all others. I see human life to consist of seven life areas. These are:

1. Spiritual
2. Intellectual
3. Psychological
4. Social
5. Professional
6. Recreational
7. Physical

By being aware of these life areas, and seeking to make gradual progress in each one of them, we can use life balance as a way of achieving success in life. Without life balance, we need to rethink what “success” means to us.