What do I mean by that?
Do you devote too much of your time and attention to an area of your life that maybe shouldn't be getting quite so much of it? Such as your job? Is this happening at the expense of other areas - like your relationships, your spiritual development or your contribution to the wider world?
A much loved former colleague of mine used to speak about what he called the oil rig analogy. He'd say, imagine yourself as an oil rig, with each of your three legs representing an important aspect of your life. He used to label them as work, family and friends. He'd talk about how if there was a problem in one area, strength in the other two legs would still support you. The trouble came if more than one area had problems at the same time.
This always stuck in my mind. I might argue that to be really stable the rig should have had a few more legs.... but the concept is very valid - balance across many areas of your life is the key to happiness.
It's all too easy to pursue our career goals at the expense of our health or relationships. When looking at making changes in your life it is vital to take what coaches call an ecology check - that is, to look at how changes in one area affect other areas and also other people.
Next time you have a few minutes to yourself (and if you read yesterday's post that should be soon) - make a list of what you feel are the most important areas of your life. Most people include areas such as relationships, family, wealth and health. Think longer and you'll probably add contribution, spirituality, personal growth and hopefully fun to your list too. Look down that list and think how happy you are in each of those areas at the moment.
Now do you feel your life is in balance? If so - fantastic, what steps can you take today to make things even better? If not, what can we do together that will improve things? Keep reading.
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