I’m going to show you how to bring your life into balance. I am going to take you through an evaluation process to determine whether you have a positive life balance or not. Once completed this will help you focus on what needs to change.
Do you ever feel your life balance is totally out of sync? Maybe you’re stressed at work, you can’t keep up with family responsibilities, or you feel unhealthy and worn-out.
No matter how good life may be for us, we all have areas of our life that could use some improvement – and for many of us, some areas need serious sorting out. How about your career for example? Are you excited to wake up Monday morning, and get to work? Do you earn what you are worth? If so, well done! What about your personal relationships, are they the best that they can be? How about your physical health? Do you find time for fun?
The question is: “Is your life in balance?”
Someone whose life is out of balance may appear to be: fatigued, remote, overwhelmed, over committed, constantly starting and stopping, multitasking, and have difficulty making decisions or finding time for many important things. A hundred years ago life moved far slower and was much less pressurised. However, over the last century there have been tremendous changes. While most of these changes have been exciting, they have meant increased demands on everybody. As people get busier they also feel more stressed and it is very much because life is out of balance.
A life in balance is one where we feel a state of equilibrium in which the demands of all areas of life are equally satisfied.
“When you are living with balance in your life, you are living with peace and harmony every day. Balance comes in physical forms, emotional forms, and a spiritual form.”
Those who achieve life balance tend to have higher levels of satisfaction with their jobs and life in general, as well as lower levels of stress and depression instead feeling happy and fulfilled.
Without a good life balance your personal and physical domains will begin to suffer.
“Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony.” Thomas Merton
Happiness and wellbeing can only be achieved if there is a balance between the physical, the mental, the spiritual and the social/emotional. In truth for long term good health establishing a life balance is essential.
But of course, with the pressures of life, it isn’t easy.
So, is your life in balance?
If not, how badly out of balance is it?
Let me help you find out for sure.
Let’s do an evaluation exercise and get an estimate of how balanced your life is. We will take a realistic look at the personal, professional, and physical elements of your life as they are now and assign a score.
This exercise gives you a basic idea of where you are and where you’d like to be. It doesn’t have to be an exact measurement and it can change from day to day, week to week. What’s important is that you start to get a basic understanding that imbalance exists. By doing this you will have officially taken a first step toward making significant change in your life.
Life Evaluation Questionnaire
We are going to evaluate your life to determine how balanced it is.
By scoring each key area as it is right now. First you will look at each statement and see how many you can say apply to you perfectly. Then after you have gone through the 10 statements rank your level of satisfaction for that particular area by scoring yourself between zero and ten.
10 = totally happy – full satisfaction and achievement.
0 = totally unhappy – completely dissatisfied.
As you work through the exercises ahead, it’s important to remember that these are not tests. There are no right or wrong answers — simply answers that apply to you.
Let’s look at 10 key areas of your life.
1. Physical Health & Wellness
- My body is in good shape, I’m happy with my weight and I exercise regularly, so I have lots of energy and vitality?
- I eat plenty of healthy foods for sustenance and pleasure but not for emotional comfort. I am not abusing my body with too much alcohol, caffeine or drugs?
- I have had a physical examination within the last few years and all the important measurements are at a healthy level?
- I visit my dentist and optician regularly to ensure my eyes and teeth are healthy?
- I have as much sleep as I need to function at peak performance?
- I have regular breaks, take evenings and weekends off and take the time I need to relax?
- I do not experience periods of ill health benefiting greatly from living a healthy lifestyle?
- I have a sense of inner peace and calm?
- I pace myself and respect my personal energy levels?
- I feel totally in the flow of life, finding it to be fun and fulfilling?
Are you satisfied with your Physical Health & Wellness situation? What do you score?
You can then begin working on making this happen and change it you must because living in a balanced way success, happiness, and fulfilment become natural by products of your actions. For this reason, it is vital to develop and cultivate the personal quality of balance and live your life in a balanced way.
I want you to remember you are the architect of your own life, you have the ability to plan, build, and maintain practically anything that you desire.
You have the ability right now to change an unbalanced life into a balanced one.
Before you go I now want you to make a commitment.
Now make yourself a commitment.
As a result of having done this assessment, how do you intend to improve your life balance. What are you going to do? Again jot this down, and start to work on it.
photo credit: djking Surfing Stones via photopin (license)
