How to Create a Balanced Life

There is popular theory these days that you can’t have a balanced life and be successful.  Instead, to be successful, some argue that we should focus on our passions and allow the other aspects of our lives go by the wayside.  While that approach may help you to achieve short-term success, it isn’t a viable approach to long-term success and happiness.  Rather, the key to having a great life in the long term is to create a balanced life.

Admittedly, there are times in life when we simply can’t have balance.  If you are a student and in the midst of exams, you’ll be focused on studying and other activities will be put on hold.  Or if you have a baby, all your energy will be focused on caring for your infant. 

But most of the time, we have the ability to create balance in our lives.  We just have to be intentional about how we choose to spend our time. 

Below are 8 key areas to focus on when creating balance in your life.  If you give time and energy every day to each of these areas, you will see your life become more balanced and your happiness increase!

Physical Health

Even though our physical health is incredibly important, we often don’t prioritize caring for our bodies.  After all, when we are busy, it is easy to put exercising and eating healthy foods on the back burner.  The problem is that our ability to be successful and happy is highly dependent on our physical health.

If you’ve ever had the flu, you know this to be true.  When we are sick, we are too exhausted to go to work, clean the house, or even cook a meal.  Life effectively comes to a standstill.  And even if we aren’t sick, if we don’t exercise each day and eat properly, then we feel sluggish.   

So, our overall well-being is dependent on our physical health.  That is why making our physical health a priority is critical to having a balanced life.  Exercising and eating healthy foods is something that we need to do each day without fail.  When we take care of our bodies, we feel good, which is the foundation for success in all other areas of our lives.

Emotional Health

Part of having a balanced life requires giving time to ensure that we are mentally healthy.  How do we do that?  One important thing that we can do each day is to quiet our minds.  Life involves a lot of racket.  On any given day, we have people needing our time and attention.  Then there is the influx of information from the Internet, social media and television.  That is a lot to take in, and our brains and emotions can get overloaded.

That is why it is critical to spend some amount of time each day in silence.  No phone.  No Internet.  And no one saying, “Can you…”  That period of daily silence is what allows us to clear our minds and just be still.  And being still allows us to rejuvenate ourselves mentally and emotionally. 

Finances

An important part of having a balanced life means not having your finances out of whack.  That is challenging.  We live in a society in which shopping has become shockingly easy.  For instance, I can order something on Amazon today and have it delivered to my house tomorrow.  And I can do that simply by pressing a couple of buttons on my phone.  It is no small wonder that folks get themselves into financial trouble by over spending.  Spending money is far too easy nowadays.

But realize that when your finances are in trouble, there is a cloud over your entire life.  Being in debt or not being able to make ends meet is highly stressful.  That is why a balanced life is one in which we live under our means.

Admittedly, no one wants to do that.  We all want to keep up with the Joneses.  Heaven forbid that our car isn’t as luxurious as our friend’s car, or our house isn’t as large as our sibling’s house.  The problem with that kind of competition is that it leads to over spending.

So, to keep your finances in check, you need to forget about what your friends and family members have, and instead, live under your means.  To do so, focus on all the blessings that you have.  And take good care of them!  So, if you have a simple wardrobe, make sure you take good care of it.  Wash your clothes carefully and polish your shoes regularly.  If you have a small home, then focus on its upkeep.  Make sure that all parts of your home are in good repair.  Decorate it tastefully within your budget.  And be grateful to have a roof over your head!

The key to living within your means is to stop worrying about what you don’t have.  Instead, simply be grateful for what you have, enjoy your material blessings and take good care of them.

Social Life

The pandemic led many of us to live hermit-like lifestyles.  And that was understandable.  After all, COVID-19 was an unpredictable illness. Folks reasonably wanted to avoid getting infected, which meant limiting their socializing.  But now that we are vaccinated and “boostered” to the hilt, we now can renew our social lives. 

Realize that having social connections is a critical part of having a balanced life.  As human beings, we were created to be in relationships with other people.  We are social creatures.  Even the most introverted person needs regular time with others.

The key to having a positive social life is to make wise choices about who you spend your time with.  Realize that once we become adults, we have control over who we have in our lives.  So, make good choices about the type of people with whom you socialize.

Unfortunately, there are many people out there who are either negative or mean-spirited.  They are unhappy with themselves and their place in the world, and they are quick to lash out and be unkind.  We all know who those people are.  Avoid them!    

Instead, when creating a balanced life, choose to socialize with positive, encouraging people.  Fill your life with folks who are quick to be kind and slow to criticize.  The more time you spend with happy, relaxed people, the happier and more relaxed you will be. 

Home Environment

To have a balanced life, you want to give time and attention each day to your environment.  And what is your environment?  It’s your home!  Your home should be a place of refuge.  It should be a place where you can fully relax.  And simply put, you can’t relax in a mess.

I’ve known people who have messy homes, and sadly, that is because their brains are messy.  They are mentally struggling, they don’t think clearly, so their environment is a reflection of their brains.  They live in clutter because they are mentally cluttered.

The first step toward having a relaxed and clear mind is to have a tidy, well-organized home.  Your home should be a house (or apartment) where everything has a place.  And it should contain only those things that you love (e.g. art, photos and books) or those things that are necessary for daily living (e.g. pots and pans).  And if you can find practical items that you simply love (e.g. a great set of pots and pans!), all the better.

Look at your home is as if it were an art museum, and you are the curator.  Everything in your home should be carefully chosen.  And everything should have a carefully chosen location. 

Your home is a big piece of your “balanced life” puzzle.  So, be sure to devote some time each day to making your home a place of refuge where you can truly relax.      

Intellectual Life

A critical part of living a balanced life is taking care of your brain.  Many of us mistakenly believe that to age well, we simply have to take care of our bodies.  I’ll agree that caring for our physical health is important.  But our brain health is equally important.  In fact, in order to live a truly satisfying life, we need to be continually improving our brains by learning. 

Realize that your education should not have ended the day that you graduated from school.  Rather, we should all aspire to be life-long learners.  We should be learning about new topics, and we should be learning how to do new things until the day we die. 

Learning gives your brain the daily workout that it needs.  And the best way to engage in daily learning is to find a hobby.  Realize that all hobbies give our brains a workout.  For instance, learning to knit gives you a mental workout by learning how to do different stitches and by following a pattern.   Studies show that learning a new language is so beneficial to our brains, that it may even delay the onset of dementia.  That is how powerful learning is!

So, part of a balanced life involves giving your brain a workout every day.  Pick up a hobby and ensure that learning is part of your daily routine.

Professional Life

As human beings, we were made to work.  Work stimulates our brains. It gives us purpose and increases our social connections.  And as an added benefit, work pays the bills!

So having a career is an important part of having a balanced life.  Admittedly, there are times in life when we may need to take a break from our careers.  For instance, when our children aren’t yet school age, we may take off time from our careers to care for them, instead of having them in daycare.  Or, if we have ailing parents, we may need to take time away from work to help them.

But otherwise, work and a career are a natural part of a balanced life.  And it is important to try to make your professional life as rewarding as possible.  That may mean bolstering your skills so that you can advance in your career.  Or it may mean switching jobs so that you can work with good colleagues in a place where your efforts are appreciated.

In short, the key to having a balanced life is to ensure that your job is not just “work.”  Your job should not just provide you with money, but with non-monetary rewards as well.

Spiritual Life

Having a balanced life requires having a spiritual life.  Many people bristle at that notion.  They equate having a spiritual life with organized religion, and for many, organized religion is distasteful.

But realize that to have a spiritual life, you don’t need to join an organized religion.  That is just one of many ways to have a spiritual life.  Rather, to have a spiritual life, you need to do three things: Read, Think and Pray or Meditate.

So, part of your daily reading should involve reading something spiritual.  I would encourage you to read anything that gives you food for thought.  For example, I don’t limit myself to reading writers from any particular religion.  Instead, I read about the philosophies of many different religions.  My goal is to understand my purpose in this world and how I can be a blessing to others.  And all religions have insights as to how to achieve that.

You should be taking time each day to think, pray or meditate about your role in this giant cosmos.  Now some will argue that because the universe is so large, that affirms their belief that they are highly inconsequential.  I couldn’t disagree more!  You are here, functioning within this enormous universe.  As a result, you are not inconsequential.  Just the opposite.  Because you are part of this enormous world, every last thing you do and say (or don’t do and say) has an impact. You matter.    

So, make your spiritual development a daily priority.  Give time to think about your role in this world and how you can make your small patch of the earth just a little bit better. 

The key to a happy life is balance.  When we focus on one aspect of life and ignore the other aspects, life feels out of whack.  So, make it your daily practice to focus on the 8 important life areas above.  Give time to each area on a daily basis and see your happiness increase! (To read about great habits for happiness and better health, click here.)