Balance: 5 Steps Required for Life Focus and Success

Balance – without it there can be no planking… or success.

[This is Part # 2 of a 20 Part Series to Improve Your Strengths] — Take the Strengths TEST

Quote: “So divinely is the world organized that every one of us, in our place and time, is in balance with everything else.” -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Definition: “harmonious arrangement of parts within a whole”

When is the last time you had one of those days where it just felt like nothing seemed to be working out?  Or maybe there were swings between “HOLY COW THAT WAS AWESOME!” and “Could this BE any worse?”  Or maybe you just can’t seem to get off of the extremes of any one side of something in your life.

How could being able to maintain a straight and narrow path toward your goals in life help you?  Let me see if I can say that a bit better… will a fire hydrant with the top popped off put out a fire or is a well-directed hose a better choice?  At the end of the day, does a yo-yo really go anywhere or do anything?

Be it emotions, health, finances, or just life in general, balance between the extremes is necessary for self growth and development.  Let’s see if we can get you a little closer to that center point on the line that starts at “AWESOME ALWAYS NO MATTER WHAT!” and ends at “shoot me now”.  Once you’re on that center point and in control – YOU decide when it’s okay to dip to whatever side the current situation calls for… instead of the extreme side controlling you.

1. Take an Inventory of Things That Might be Out of Balance

Make a list of things you do throughout the course of the day.  Do this for a week or two until you think you have enough data to see some patterns.  Does anything stick out like a sore thumb?  I recommend making a list of *at least* 10-15 major things you are doing.  The more categories the better, but get at least that many.

There are 168 hours in a week.  What percentage of time are you spending on: games, working, surfing, social networking, eating, watching TV, sleeping, doing nothing productive, not doing something related to your goals, traveling, fighting, etc.  The first step is awareness – put your eyes on yourself!

2. Look at Your Most Obvious Areas for Unbalanced Items

Look at your list from Step 1.  Now try your best to put a rough estimate of how (1) important, (2) useful, and (3) easy-to-cut-back-on each one of the items on your list is.  Do it as best you can, but…