Life Balance

I read many books by many authors on the subjects of life coaching (business, personal perspective, attitude, etc) most of which essentially describe the ability to lead a "balanced" life. What say you? What is life balance? It is the degree to which you address and improve the areas of your life that need the most attention - ie: how can I improve myself & my quality of life? It has been a constant struggle all my life to determine just what will work , but for my life, the order of importance has become quite clear; God - Family - Business. A seemingly simple enough formula, yet when one is out of sequence to the others (as happens all too often), the impact can be considerable and consequences always result. Consider how working too much impacts your quality of family life - or how a lack of faith may impact your ability to believe in yourself - or how a strained relationship within your family or with your spouse can impact your work or health? 2010 was one of those years where impact and consequence were at an all-time high, for me and for many of the people that I know and have met over the past 12 months for sure. Financially, employment wise, relationships, etc., etc. I suppose this would be where many could begin to criticise, condemn, and complain - but I choose not to participate in that because I know though learning and associating with others that it (life) is what I make of it (insert famous quote here). The bigger the challenge, the bigger the reward for overcoming it, and my faith sustains me through the hardest of these times. I will say that the events of the past year have forced me to learn much about myself, my abilities, the perceptions of others, and the dynamics of the relationships that I have with God and others in my family, my community and my business. There were many learning opportunities last year and many were not what I expected - both good and bad. All of them have contributed to the person that I am, and the direction in which I am headed. I have adopted and frequently recommend to others that to be truly balanced, this order of priority (God, Family, Business) has to be applied to each aspect of your life; what we call in the TEAM business community, the "8-F's" (Faith, Family, Fitness, Finances, Friends, Following, Freedom, Fun). Think of a wagon wheel supported by eight spokes representing your life. If the spokes are all different lengths, your "wheel" isn't very round & as your life turns, it is not so smooth is it? This process is best begun by actually identifying (by thought and written word) what it is that you want, have, and desire in each of these areas. (I ranked each on a scale of 1 to 20 and then drew the wheel with appropriately sized "spokes".) Only by documenting such things can you truly have any real ability to hold yourself accountable to them. Those that have the best results allow others to do so as well. This is especially effective when you share these values with your partner, family, or mentor (you do have a mentor, yes?) The next step involves thinking about what you are doing and why, so that when faced with challenges as they come along, instead of being reactionary, you can have the ability to make proactive decisions before acting in any given situation and frequently avoid many situations altogether. Ask yourself - What is God trying to tell me? How will this impact my family? Is my decision to act in line with my core values and character? When applied consistently over time, before long you will have developed this as a habit and will have joined the ranks of many of the most successful people amongst us. In addition, when you act in alignment with your core values, you are able to build trust in yourself and in your relationships with others. Because it is directly connected with Human emotions and perceptions, trust can be difficult and frequently subjective; but suffice to say that trust and relationships are frequently misunderstood until one knows their own core values. So, I urge you to ask of yourself; Am I doing everything I can to address balance in my life, or could I do more? The journey begins by acting on the decision to take that first step. Choose wisely my friends. Until next time... Live Well - Be Well! Stephen