Principle of Balance in your Life

The principle of life identifies the six to eight dimensions of your life that are important to you. Different approaches to this are:

• The roles you play in life for example: husband/wife, father/mother, manager, colleague, team member, sports player, community leader, or friend;
• Areas of life that are important to you for example: artistic expression, positive attitude, career, education, family, friends, financial freedom, physical challenge, pleasure, or public service; or
• Your own combination of these (or different), reflecting the things that are your priorities in life.

This approach assumes that you will be happy and fulfilled if you can find the right balance of attention for each of these dimensions. And different areas of your life will need different levels of attention at different times.

A balanced life does not mean getting five in each life area: some areas need more attention and focus than others at any time. And inevitably you will need to make choices and compromises, as your time and energy are not in unlimited supply!

Once you have identified the areas that need attention, it's time to plan the actions needed to work on regaining balance. Starting with the neglected areas, what things do you need to start doing to regain balance? In the areas that currently sap your energy and time, what can you STOP doing or re-prioritise or delegate to someone else?

Work-life balance is a concept including proper prioritizing between work (career and ambition) and lifestyle (health, pleasure, leisure, family, spiritual development).

Time pressure often causes a form of inter-role conflict in which the role pressures from the work and family domains are mutually incompatible in some respect. That is, participation in the work (family) role is made more difficult by virtue of participation in the family (work) role.

• Work-life balance does not mean that there must be equal balance across all aspects of an individual’s life.
• The optimum work-life balance will not remain static but will vary over time
• The best work-life balance will be different for each person. There is no one size fits all in work-life balance.

A balanced life is one where we spread our energy and effort - emotional, intellectual, imaginative, spiritual and physical between key areas of importance to us.

Click here to download a handout that explains the wheel of life activity.

The Wheel of Life Explained

A wheel has spokes to ensure its strength and balance. Unequal spokes can make the ride very bumpy, and cause trauma and disaster. The faster the ride, the higher the risks posed by the unequal spokes.

Inevitably you will need to make choices and compromises to get your wheel balanced, as your time and energy are not in unlimited supply!

What are the gaps? Which are the areas of your life that need attention.

And remember that gaps can go both ways. There are almost certainly areas that are not getting as much attention as you'd like. However, there may also be areas where you're putting in more effort than you'd ideally like. These areas are sapping energy and enthusiasm that may better be directed elsewhere.

Once you have identified the areas that need attention, it's time to plan the actions needed to work on regaining balance. Starting with the neglected areas, what things do you need to start doing to regain balance? In the areas that currently sap your energy and time, what can you STOP doing or reprioritize or delegate to someone else?