Life Balance is Dynamic

Static vs Dynamic Life Balance

We’re half way through January, so we’ve had a couple weeks to not only reset our vision and direction for our lives but also to begin taking action toward that vision. It’s still very early in the year, but it’s possible to already start feeling overwhelmed or stressed and have thoughts of doubt or uncertainty of the goals you’ve set for yourself.

Maybe you’ve even had a better strategy this year (having read my previous blog Dare to Dream) by taking account of your various life domains and seeking to find that alluring yet often elusive “work-life balance.” But try as you may, you still find yourself overpowered by the thought of maintaining balance in ALL of the aspects of your life (family, work, health, community, money, hobbies, marriage, etc.).

Your schedule is loaded with activities, routines, projects, events, and travel that address a little bit of everything. Maybe you finally achieve balance at work but then your relationships begin to feel distant. Or you spend more time with your children but now the budget needs a major overhaul. You make progress in one area only to see yourself slipping in another. How are you to keep it all in perfect balance?

Or, let’s imagine that you actually attain that wondrous balance in every life category. How long will it last? A week? A day? A few hours? Is it even possible to sustain this balance?

No.

This is because we were never meant to maintain perfect balance. And, quite frankly, perfect balance isn’t good for us because perfect balance doesn’t allow for change. Change is inevitable, so to seek perfect balance is to resist the natural order of this world. It’s no wonder we feel burned out or frustrated when we can’t seem to hold it all together!

So what are we to do? Give up and hope for the best? By no means! Instead, we need to understand that life balance is dynamic.

I think that often, when we talk of life balance, we imagine someone standing on a tight rope keeping from teetering to one side or the other. Or we picture someone standing still while holding a bunch of plates in place trying not to drop them. This would be an example of static balance and it only takes a slight nudge to completely throw us off and lose control.

But life isn’t static. If we are to go somewhere or make progress in anything, we need to move! We need to improve our dynamic balance. This is the ability to maintain forward progress in the presence of change. The fluctuation of schedules, new career opportunities, the shifting of seasons, the passing of loved ones, the birth of new ones. These all require dynamic balance to enable us to learn, grow, and make progress toward a chosen destination. Instead of imagining someone standing still, we should picture someone walking or running toward something, being able to pivot, jump, and zig-zag through, over, or around objects.

Dynamic balance does not force you to maintain a fanciful semblance of life stability but rather frees you to adapt and shift your focus to the RIGHT life domains that need your attention most. We can’t do #allthethings because this ignores our humanity and our ability to only focus on so much at a time (see my blog Less is More). True dynamic life balance requires APPROPRIATE attention across the various categories of your life.

So here are five things to remember about dynamic life balance WHEN changes occur:

1. All domains of life are connected – This means that when you are not getting enough sleep or eating right, your work may struggle. Or if your finances are not in order, it can put strain on your relationship with your spouse or loved ones. But the opposite is also true – when your spiritual domain is thriving, your connection with family will improve. Or if you choose to stop eating out as often, your health AND budget can see progress. Your life categories are all connected so you need to focus on RIGHT categories to make progress in multiple areas.
2. It’s about progress AND process – WHAT you pursue and give your attention to is just as important as HOW you do it. It’s great to achieve results, but the growth we experience along the way is priceless. So don’t be afraid to aspire to great things because, even if you don’t attain it, new opportunities and discoveries will happen along the way.
3. You need to WRITE – This one may seem out of place but I can’t stress enough the importance of writing because we are often stuck in our heads and don’t realize it. Writing is a powerful way to not only SEE what you are thinking but to also UNDERSTAND what you’re feeling.
4. Progress is always possible – No matter how bad things are in any life domain, you can always improve. You may have failed multiple times in the past but that does not mean you can’t make new changes and start seeing progress again. Or you might be doing really well in one category but you’ll always have room for growth in that same domain.

Dynamic balance is the key to moving forward in life. You can’t stand still and hope that things will improve. It’s simple, but we all know that it isn’t easy. You need stability to be dynamic and that can be hard to find in the chaos of the moment. This is why it is so important to have a framework to guide you along the way; a system to help you get clarity on when and how to pivot and adapt to the changes you will inevitably experience. If you need any help, please email me at focusdailynow@gmail.com or sign up for my next workshop to learn how to increase your dynamic balance.