I'll do it as soon as Q2 is over!

“Just when I’ve gotten one part of my life sorted out, another part falls to shit”.

Does that sound familiar?

It is something we all do, we throw our energy into work and say “once I get this quarter in the bag, then I’ll sort out a exercise routine”. But then it comes near the end of quarter and something goes wrong and suddenly it's all hands on deck to fix the issue. Now next quarter’s targets are even more important so once you get that quarter done, then you will definitely sort out the exercise routine. Fast forward 9 months, you have some breathing space, you start exercising, going at it with the intensity that you feel you should have, and you put your back out and that puts an end to the exercise for a while.

Alternatively, you might be reading this and looking at your life and thinking “yes, all is perfect”, which is great! In the example above, exercise was a known neglect, but what about the things we haven't realised are in trouble?

We tend to focus on a couple of key aspects and give them all our energy and without intention, we neglect another area. Life is a series of spinning plates, to let one fall can be catastrophic and therefore you need to be aware in advance  if there is a plate that is wobbling and likely to drop.

The best way to stay on top of things is by doing a quick and regular audit of the key areas of your life every 3-6 months. This will highlight if there are any plates that may soon stop spinning.  Using the exercise below, you can identify if an area needs focus and put a plan in place so nothing gets neglected and balance is restored.

However, balance is rarely achieved for long, as life continues to happen and priorities change; and so we need to come back and do another audit in order to stay on track. None of us are a finished product, we are an ongoing, constant process and should be reviewed regularly. The idea of this exercise is to ensure you are consciously moving towards balance rather accidentally moving away from it.

Look at the picture below and rank your current level of satisfaction for each area, giving a score between 1 (very dissatisfied) and 10 (Fully satisfied). Fill in the line next to the corresponding number.

Now step back and ask yourself, in it’s current state, would this wheel result in a bumpy ride? Are there any areas that are lacking?

• How are you currently spending time in these areas?  
• What would a score of 10 look like?
• What’s the smallest step you could take to get started?
• What help or support might you need to begin?

 Rebalance your lifestyle!