States of Balance
I write a column in my newsletter entitled, “Career/Life Symmetry.” Topics here are meant to address both balance between one’s personal and professional life and one’s overall balance. Sometimes though, we allow ourselves to get into segmented thinking about our lives and try to fix problems in only one area, not realizing how both our personal and professional lives are impacted by the same change.
There are four overarching themes of balance which are our emotional, physical, spiritual and intellectual states of being. So the question is, “can you be truly balanced in your life if your work life is running well, but not your personal life?” or visa-versa? I don’t think so.
I think at any given time we feel more balanced in one area simply because we don’t have problems directly confronting us in that area, yet try as we might to separate our thinking and stay focused where we are, concerns from one area will seep into the other. To prevent this, we have to view ourselves and our lives more holistically and keep each of these four stages of our being healthy and renewed consistently – before problems occur. This way, we’re more prepared to deal with upsets, will have a more acute sense of the crossover impact and how to correct it, and can more easily maintain a balanced life.
Do you consider your life successfully “in balance” and, if so, what allows for that?
