Balanced Lifestyle
Okay. You've made a career decision, you've obtained a job. Now how do you keep all the balls up in the air? Balanced Lifestyle is the sixth puzzle piece in the career planning process if you started with "Self-Awareness."
Balanced lifestyle is the step that encourages you to reflect and evaluate your career and life decisions. Based on your response, it might lead you to taking action.
Because we are constantly changing, it's important to periodically examine our goals and level of satisfaction with ALL of the parts of our life. This step is an advocate for trying to live our lives in balance so that each part receives consistent and dedicated attention through our life span.
Attempting to live a balanced life is an interesting dynamic, however. For many, trying to keep some semblance of balance may result in greater stress. Then there are others who get overly focused in one part of their lives and ultimately have increased the stress in their lives. It's likely, however, that ignoring several facets of your life will ultimately catch up with you. And this is often tied to how we manage our time and measure the quality of our life's experiences.
So, what exactly is "Balance"? It's not the easiest word to define. A term like "stress" we can comprehend easily. We know what it is because we feel it. But are we really on the same page about what balance is or could be?
I like the dictionary version: "An influence or force tending to produce equilibrium" or "Harmonious proportion." Some people would say that "equilibrium" equals boredom-not necessarily so. It can provide meaning and richness through a breadth of experiences, and it doesn't mean you can't be passionate about what you're doing. Other people don't like the word because they believe it means we have to keep things "equal" all the time, something which is impossible to do. But achieving balance can simply mean paying attention to the many parts of our lives and taking action where it is most needed.
When we are out of balance, the energy we do have can be spent in one area at the expense of others. This can actually result in compulsive behavior and STRESS. Ultimately, how a person defines "balance" is subjective for their life and it will change for each person at different times of their lives.
What we do know is that no one part of our lives is separate from another, like activity and rest, work and play, interaction with others or not; every piece is intertwined with everything else. And with today's hectic pace and the multiple roles we play, balance requires planning and creativity to attain, whether it's for many parts of our lives or for one. Commitment becomes the driving force that ultimately helps us to consistently work toward balance.
Balancing the Pieces
So, what are we trying to balance? The big pieces might include: Self-management, educational management, career management, family/social management, leisure management, and community. Here's more:
Self-management (or Personal)
- Physical self: health, exercise, nutrition, overall appearance
- Emotional self: level of inner happiness, health, overall self-esteem
- Spiritual self
- Intellectual self
Educational management
- Monitoring and/or obtaining educational goals
- Maintaining educational currency
- Exploring professional breadth and curiosity
- Examining commitment to lifelong learning
Career management
- Career Assessment/Evaluation-explore self
- Career research
- Career decision-making
- Career plan
- Career goal-setting
- Career action
- Workplace Assessment/Evaluation-explore organizational fit
Family/Social management
- Interaction and responsibility with family-explore quality, scheduling time
- Interaction and responsibility with friends and support systems-explore quality, scheduling time
Leisure management
- Monitoring leisure wellness with self
- Monitoring leisure wellness with others
Community Responsiveness
- Interaction and responsibility with local community
- Interaction and responsibility with national community
- Interaction and responsibility with global community
Here are some web sites to help you learn more about work/life balance:
- Work and Family Connection
- Worldwide Health
- Work Life Balance Centre
- Life Tools for Women
- Mayo Clinic
- Alliance for Work-Life Progress
- Families and Work Institute
http://familiesandwork.org/announce/workforce.html
- Intelihealth
http://search.intelihealth.com
- FamilyIQ
- Blue Suit Mom.Com
Here are some articles and books about Balance
- Keep it simple
http://fastcompany.com/online/15/keepitsimple.html
- The Invisible Dilemma: An Interview with Fatherhood Project's James Levine
http://linezine.com/5.1/interviews/jltid.htm
- Balance and Integration
http://marciaconner.com/fav/balance.html
- Balancing Your Work and Play Ethics
http://amby.com/kimeldorf/balance.html
- Serious Play, A Leisure Wellness Guidebook, Martin Kimeldorf, Ten Speed Press.
- Living in Balance, Joel Levey & Michelle Levey, Conari Press.
- The Simple Living Guide, Janet Luhrs, Broadway Books.
- Reinventing Yourself, Life Planning After 50, Sandra Davis & Bill Handschin, Consulting Psychologist Press.
