The Key to Balancing Life is Intention and Taking a Personal Inventory

By Jackie White

Balancing all the things in life can feel like an impossible task. Sometimes it can get so overwhelming that we just forget about certain things, like taking care of ourselves! We know we have to go to work and take care of our families. We have to do those things, but spending time for ourselves often tends to go on the back burner.

Let’s peel back the onion on what life balance really means and why it’s important to be mindful of these areas. The 13 Areas of Balance outlined below are.most of the areas of life you will be juggling. It’s a lot and it’s normal to drop some of the balls because to be firing on all cylinders in these 13 areas at one time is probably too much for most people.

The 13 Areas of Balance

Self-Love - Making time for yourself and being kind to yourself.
Health and Wellness - Take care to eat properly and exercise your body regularly.
Love Life - Contentment in your current state of a love relationship.
Family Life - Contentment with your family dynamics and relationships.
Social Life/ Friendships - Satisfaction with connecting with others.
Environment/home - Comfort and peace in your home and work environments.
Career - Satisfaction with your career currently and for future opportunities.
Intellectual/Learning - Continuous learning about things you are interested in.
Skills - Practicing new skills for a personal hobby or career.
Community Life - Spending time giving back to your community.
Spiritual Life - Connection through religion, a higher power, nature or the Universe.
Creative Life - Taking part in some sort of creative endeavor.
Adventures - Making time for an adventure through travel or experiences.


Balancing it All
First of all, let’s recognize that there really is no way for you to be balancing all these areas equally, nor should you. Not all areas are as important as others and darn it, that’s where we get into trouble. We deem certain areas like family, love, and career as the top tier that need our attention. I cannot argue with that, but I will throw a flag on this play and say caution. When you get focused on only a few areas of life exclusively you will begin to feel burned out and not fulfilled.

Putting You on the List
When you ignore certain things like your health and wellness, sooner or later you will pay a price. You know that. But what about ignoring the need to see a friend or taking time each day to care for yourself in one kind deed or another? It doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, but just like with health and wellness, it will catch up to you. You enhance your life when you connect with others. You especially enhance your life when you decide you are worth being kind to...and for the record, you are worth being kind to yourself. That is really your number one job.

Being kind to yourself also means that in these other balance areas you are spicing up your life. Think about it: learning something new sparks your brain to develop new neural pathways! That’s exciting! Connecting spiritually gets you to know yourself so much better. How about your home? A peaceful calm space is a luxury after a tough day at work. Being creative provides joy and inspiration to maybe an otherwise dull day. 

Being Intentional
You see each area is important, so how do you manage it all? By being intentional. Choose the foundational areas you need to keep in balance daily (like taking care of your family, self-love, and health and wellness, for example). From there decide what other areas you can work on that week. Perhaps reading 20 minutes a day can replace scrolling through your social media, trying a new restaurant with a friend can fulfill your friendship area and your new adventure area! It’s all about being mindful of your time not trying to do everything at once.

For more help to keep you on track use SoulShine’s Personal Inventory Tracker and meet us live on Facebook on the first Wednesday of the month at noon for a check-in.

Shine On!