Hello and welcome.
And today's word is balance.
Now,
Are you the all or nothing kind of person?
Do you ever feel like you're constantly juggling responsibilities,
Perhaps?
Work,
Family,
Relationships,
Self-care,
Yet something always gets neglected.
One moment you're excelling at your career,
But your health is suffering.
Another time your personal life might be thriving,
But your ambitions take a back seat.
So what kind of person are you?
Do you live life in balance?
Do you understand the value of moving forward in life with small,
Consistent steps in the direction of your goals?
Or are you more the passionate all for nothing type?
Balance is very,
Very important for living our best life.
And the sooner we learn that,
And the sooner we can embrace that we can have a life of passion with balance,
That's really,
Really key.
Because many of us believe if I had a balanced life,
I'd lose all the great highs.
But in fact,
We simply lift our default level much higher when we have a life of balance.
So it's really,
Really nice one to be thinking about.
We achieve goals whilst maintaining mental peace.
We don't get overexcited about things,
But we still enjoy and live in gratitude.
It's a very beautiful way of living.
Leonardo da Vinci focused a lot on balance and he was a true Renaissance man.
He mastered the art of balance so well,
Seamlessly integrating his passion for art and science and engineering.
He understood that variety and pursuits enriches the mind.
His ability to blend analytical thinking with creativity,
In fact,
Led to groundbreaking innovation.
His life really does serve us as a reminder that balance doesn't limiting ourselves.
It means making space for all that we love and all aspects of ourself.
Arianna Huffington,
The founder of the Huffington Post,
She learned the hard way that overworking leads to burnout.
And after collapsing from exhaustion,
She restructured her life,
Prioritizing rest and mindfulness and work-life balance.
And she later wrote books about well-being,
Showing that balance is not a luxury.
It's essential for success.
And if you're somebody in business who's ever come across something called the DISC model,
William Moulton Marston,
Who came up with the DISC model,
He was such a fascinating character.
He too,
Similar to Leonardo da Vinci,
An educated doctor.
He was a lawyer.
He came up with a psychometric tool that he believed in so strongly that he decided not to patent it because he wanted everyone to have access to his psychometric tool because he knew it would change the world,
Which of course it has done because a hundred years later,
It's still being used in millions of businesses all around the world.
But add to all of that the fact that he was also a cartoonist who came up with the Wonder Woman cartoon.
Imagine the mindset of that individual.
And imagine if you set yourself free,
What areas would you bring to the forefront to create that balance so that every part of you gets a voice and is heard and is given space to be lived out?
And a Harvard study found that people who maintain work-life balance are 21% more productive than those who overwork or burn out.
So three things I'd like to recommend for today.
One is start to audit your life,
Write down where your time and energy are going and ask whether you're neglecting important areas like relationships or self-care.
You could even look up the Wheel of Life,
Which is a coaching tool,
Which will allow you to assess very quickly if there's an area of your life that's being neglected or needs time and needs effort or needs work or needs attention.
Very powerful.
I use it a lot in my coaching practice and you can get very creative with the Wheel of Life.
And so that's a very wonderful tip.
Number two,
I'd like you to start thinking about setting boundaries so that you're really giving yourself a bit more time and space for you.
Learn to say no to unnecessary obligations that really drain you or people that are quite toxic.
Or perhaps you need to set boundaries with yourself with regards to scrolling or diet or health regimes or whatever it might be where things are tipping in perhaps one direction far more than in another.
And number three,
Prioritise rest and play.
And today we're going to end on a quote by Thomas Merton.
Happiness is not a matter of intensity,
But of balance,
Order,
Rhythm and harmony.
