We often talk about life balance in our workshops, seminars and with one-on-one coaching clients. Having a balanced life is something most people strive for, but few fully achieve. We like to refer to having a balanced life as having a balanced palette. For example, if you were given an artist palette and it just had one big blob of green paint on it, do you think you would be able to paint a masterpiece? Imagine Michelangelo being asked to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, yet all he was given was blue paint….do you think it would have become a masterpiece?
The same is true in our lives. If we are to truly live proactive, purposeful lives full of passion, then we need to have a vibrant and balanced palette to truly allow us to experience and create the masterpiece which is our life.
We like to refer to the five key areas of the palette as being:
- Relationships
- Health/Emotion
- Physical Environment
- Financial
- Spirituality
What tends to happen with most people is they pay attention to the one specific area of their palette that needs the most immediate assistance, and the others are put on the back burner. For example, let’s say you haven’t been to a doctor in years, you don’t eat right, or exercise and you finally go to the doctor only to be told that you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol and you are 20 lbs overweight. Well, that is when the alarm goes off in your Health/Emotion area and all of a sudden you are doing everything you can to regain your health! This becomes your top priority…..UNTIL, your teenage daughter announces that she is going to drop out of high school and move in with her unemployed boyfriend… and then all of a sudden the Relationship area of your life becomes your focus. And, this continues to happen with each new crisis that comes your way and you live in a constant state of reactive mode. You spend your time running around putting out fires and not being able to achieve and (more importantly) maintain a balanced life.
My advice to clients is to start living in PROACTIVE mode and focus on all five areas of your life. Of course, there will be times that one area requires more attention than the others, but if we make a conscious effort to keep all five areas in check…the reactions and outcomes won’t be so extreme.
A good way to get started creating your balanced palette is to spend some time thinking about each area, and write down specific goals and visions you have for each, and then develop an action plan to meet those goals.
Guest Blogger: Leah Turner
email: Leah@CreatingYourMasterpiece.com
website: CreatingYourMasterpiece.com
407.709.6816
