A very well-known slogan ‘Life Balance’. What does it mean and is it even possible?
Life Balance is a feeling of satisfaction in various areas of our lives. In today’s modern, very fast paced world, many of us find it difficult to achieve the balance we long for. But what does it even mean? It means that we are satisfied with all spheres of our life, that we take care of them in a satisfactory way. And these areas include: business / career, health, finance, family, love, friends, personal development and spirituality, environment, leisure / play.
How can life imbalance manifest itself?
When our life is out of balance, we feel stressed. Stress can take different forms. We can feel overwhelmed, exhausted, overworked, dissatisfied, sad, confused, out of control, empty, unhappy or frustrated but also our body can manifest it with headaches and body aches. Sometimes it’s hard to connect the dots and understand that this sadness or frustration comes from dissatisfaction in one or more areas of our lives. Life is complex and sometimes we are not even aware that we may feel stressed because there are spheres of our life that we ignore, that we don’t have time for or that we don’t pay attention to at all. For example, the fact that we spend several hours at work can very quickly affect our health or relationships with family or friends. Another example are overworked parents trying to divide their time between work, children and household chores, for whom keeping balance is very difficult and who lack so-called ‘me time’.
How to start working on a balanced life?
It is important to be aware of the different areas in our lives that we should take care of. A good first step is to take a few minutes to rate our satisfaction in these areas on a scale 1-10 from time to time. Thanks to this ‘test’ we will see in black and white what we can work on. The next step is to set goals and an action plan to correct low scores, e.g. in relationships or self-development. They can be small steps, short-term or long-term goals. Planning alone gives us a feeling of control and it is the feeling of being out of control that is often the source of stress.
What if our basic needs are not met?
Life balance is about satisfaction with life, but also about satisfying basic human needs. In Maslow’s pyramid, at the bottom are physiological needs, above them are the need for security, then belonging, respect and at the very top of self-realization. It is worth remembering them all. Without meeting these basic needs, we do not think about meeting the next ones, e.g. when we are hungry or sleepy, we will not think about respect from other people, but about the moment when we can eat and sleep. All areas of life and needs are connected and it is worth taking care of them.
Is the next loan a good idea?
It seems to me that in today’s world where we focus so much on financial success and career, health and relationships often fail. Over the years, it may seem to us that we are doing great in life without close friends or family, that we are fine, that we can sleep 4 hours a day and still function, but I feel that this is another loan that we take out from the future. I know that the slogan ‘life balance’ or even more popular ‘work life balance’ can be annoying, but it’s just a name. We can talk about a balanced life or just take care of ourselves / our life and needs, so that we live better and with less stress and frustration. Life balance is achievable and depends on conscious choices and organization of priorities. Maybe you often feel what you really want, but you lack the courage or motivation to act, or your dreams overwhelm you and you wake up in the same place every now and then?
