I'm sure you understand the importance of balance in your life. But sometimes it's easy to get carried away with things and get thrown completely out of balance. This can happen in many ways, from working too much to not learning and growing as much as you should. Sometimes, in an effort to make ourselves healthier, we throw ourselves out of balance. While your intentions might be good, being out of balance is never a good thing. When you're out of balance, you could feel anxious, stressed, heavy, unhappy, or lack energy, focus or motivation... and so much more. Here are a few pointers to help keep you in better balance.
1) Eat really, really healthy, but don't feel guilty for treating yourself. This is so important. What's the point of creating the healthiest body ever if you're feeling stressed and guilty all the time? Guilt creates negative thought patterns around food. The truth is, you're not going to be regretting that brownie in 5 years so its probably not that big of a deal. When you love yourself, you want to eat healthy and you want to treat your body to best food. But its hard to love yourself if you're constantly beating yourself up for something as silly as snacking. I'm by no means advising you to gorge on ice cream all night, but if you do, its probably not the end of the world. Eat healthy, but eat guilt-free too.
2) Exercise because you love your body not because you hate it. When you love your body, you'll want to exercise because it makes you feel good. If loving your body is still something you're working on, read more about learning to love yourself here. There's a big difference between working out because you love your body and working out because you hate your body. Hint: you don't have to have a perfect body to love your body. And, having a perfect body won't make you happier. I know it seems like it might- but it won't. Anyways, find the balance between your yin and yang. This means challenge yourself when you're feeling energetic, but let yourself rest when you're sick or tired. This is always the easiest, but your body will work much better if you treat it right. This means finding the balance between exercising and resting.
3) Work hard, play hard. Make your mark in the world. Discover your passion and do whatever it takes to make that happen. But, don't forget to stop and play every now and then. There's no sense getting to a world class level in your industry if you're miserable doing it. Do something you love everyday. Play hard, but work hard. Don't let your dreams and goals slip away, but don't let your passions dwindle away either. Finding the balance here is a key component to living a fulfilling and happy life.
4) Balance your schedule so you make plenty of time for your family. Not spending enough time with your family and friends is one of the biggest regrets people have. Making time for the people you love is very valuable. It lets them know you appreciate them. As Robin Sharma put so nicely, "You can say that your primary value involves putting your family first, but if time with your family is not all over your schedule, well then, the truth of the matter is that your family life isn’t your priority. Show me your schedule and I’ll discover the truth — because your schedule doesn’t lie." The most valuable thing you can give someone you love is your time and attention.
I hope this post inspires you to live a more balanced life. More than that, I hope this post inspires you to not take things so seriously and make time for fun. You may or may not only live once, but is that a risk you're willing to take? Let's just enjoy our lives- okay? It can be as simple as that.