An effective life, that is, a life in which your time is spent on the most important things, stems from a balanced life. It is important to have balance in your life. No essential aspect of your life should be neglected. Neglect in certain areas of your life will lead to irreparable damage to those parts and your life as a whole. You need proper attention to all the parts to be able to live fully and effectively. Balance should be applied to how you spend your time on a day-to-day basis thus allowing yourself not only to maintain but to grow yourself. If you want to be successful and lead a life of significance, you have to be effective in all the things you are doing. Balance helps you to be effective in your life.

Life is a balancing act

Everyone has 24 hours per day and 7 days per week. Whether you use it wisely is your choice. If you do not balance your time between all the important activities, some will be neglected to your detriment. The 8 areas of your life, each on which you need to spend a minimum amount of time per week, are:

1. Physical Health – looking after your body upon which your life depends
2. Career – contributing the majority of your time and skills to the world and earning your active income
3. Personal finances – working with your money and letting it work for you
4. Family & Friends – investing in your most important relationships
5. Community – I need my community and they depend on me
6. Spiritual & Emotional – getting a grip on life
7. Intellectual – keeping your mind fit and improve yourself intellectually
8. Rest – taking a break physically and intellectually in order to perform at your best

We all agree that we should spend enough time on our career because that is how we earn our income. We also agree that the more successful we are in our careers the more we will earn from it. But neglecting the other seven areas in our lives in order to have more time available to spend on our careers, is short-sighted and will not lead to success in the long run. 

These 8 areas of life are all inter-related. If you do not spend enough time to look after your personal finances, stress and worry will affect your career, your relationships and your health. If you do not invest in your long-term health by, for example, exercising regularly you could lose your health gradually or overnight thus affecting your career, income, family life and even the way you go on vacation. Neglecting your family will cause stress and sorrow at home which will have a direct influence on your job and emotional or physical health. Contributing to your community will not only improve their lives but you will be able to call upon them when you need them. Not looking well after your spiritual and emotional well-being will prevent you from rising above your circumstances and improving yourself with the associated effects that it will have on your career, finances, family and so forth. Intellectual neglect, just as not resting enough, will also take its toll on your performance in the other walks of life.

Because we spend most of our time at work, leading a balanced life is easier said than done. In a future article I will provide some tips on how to correct the balance in your life. You owe it to yourself!