Create a Balanced Lifestyle and Begin Living a Happier, Healthier and Enriched Life

Are you living a balanced life?

Many people are not. Their lives are horribly out of balance and their quality of life is being severely compromised as a result. Some people do not even know what a balanced life looks like or how having one will improve their sense of well-being and inner happiness. They have become so stuck within their imbalanced lifestyle that they are not aware of how grave their situation is until a major crisis occurs and they are forced to take a good look at the choices they have been making.

What is balance?

Having a balanced lifestyle means that you are putting enough time and attention into the different areas of your life in order to feel a sense of satisfaction, happiness and fulfillment. Major areas of your life include:

- Career

- Family & Friends

- Significant Other/Romance

- Health

- Money

- Personal/Spiritual Growth

- Physical Environment

A good way to determine the level of balance in your life is to rate your satisfaction and happiness in each of these areas on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 being low and 10 being high). A person with a happy and balanced lifestyle will rate each area somewhere between an 8 and 10.

If your life is imbalanced then you may have some areas rated between 8 and 10, and others that are much lower. To create balance, you need to give the areas with a lower score much more time and attention than you have been.

Imagine for a moment that your life is like a car and that each tire represents a specific area of your life. Now imagine that one of the tires is beginning to lose air. You can drive on that tire for some time with no problems, but then one day you will discover (and rather uncomfortably) that it has gone flat. You will constantly feel the thud, thud, thud of the tire trying to make its way down the road, AND if you don't stop, you will eventually wear the tire right out, and driving becomes impossible.

Perhaps that tire represents the area of 'health' in your life. Attention needs to be given to the tire (your health). It has to be repaired and air needs to be put back into it before you can be on your way, unless of course you have a spare in the back of your trunk, and you can fix the problem quickly by just replacing it (ie. you just drink more coffee and eat more sugar to keep you going through the day, and just take another pain killer or antacid when the headache and stomachache get too bad). The old flat tire gets thrown back in the trunk (and living a healthy lifestyle gets put on the backburner).

If you don't get the tire fixed right away (begin living a healthier lifestyle), it will begin to drain even more energy from you, because you know that you have to get it fixed, but don't. As time goes on, and you still haven't done anything to fix the tire, your spare will eventually get a flat as well (because you can only drink more coffee and medicate your problems for so long). This time, there is no spare tire in the trunk to help you out and you are stuck along the road of life without a vehicle to get you anywhere.

My question as a coach is: "Where in your life do you need to put more attention (air in the tire), and if it already has gone flat, what can you do to repair it?"

- Do the exercise stated above and determine which areas need more of your time and attention in order for you to feel happier.

- Become very clear about how the situation is now. Describe in detail each area of your life. Perhaps you rated 'Career, an 8, and 'Family & Friends" a 4. By describing in detail what the '8' in Career looks and feels like, and what the '4' in Family & Friends looks and feels like, you will begin to get a better understanding of what needs to be changed in order to feel more fulfilled and happy.

- Now, create a long term vision for each area. Write in detail how an 8 to 10 would look and feel.

- You are now ready to create a plan that you can begin to implement. Chose one area at a time and determine your own Goals/Intentions that you'd like to develop.

- Outline your Action Steps for each Goal.

- Design your own time-table for completing each Goal.

- If all of this seems too overwhelming to do by yourself, then ask friends and family for help, or hire a coach.

Creating balance in your life is essential if you want to live a healthy, happy and enriched life. Remember, you are your own life's author, the one who is in control, and it is your responsibility to make the conscious choices to make it be the kind of life you want. Balance can be created. Just take one small step at a time and before you know it, you will have it.

"Don't be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality. If you can dream it, you can make it so."

Belva Davis

?Cheri Baumann, Life Strategist, Personal Development Coach & trainer with My Private Coach, Personus Coaching & Training, and the University of British Columbia. Her mission is to help people create vibrant, happy and authentic lives. Her coaching style is quiet, with an intuitive strength that promotes self-discovery and positive change in an accepting and playful atmosphere.

You can get more information about Cheri at http://www.MyPrivateCoach.com/cbaumann and contact her for a complimentary coaching session at either cheri@myprivatecoach.com or cbaumann@telus.net .

This article may be published without the consent of the author as long as the author's bio is included.

---

Free Tips To Improve Self Confidence

1. DRUNK!At the age of sixteen I was invited out for the evening on a Saturday night to celebrate a friend's birthday. This for most people would be something to look forward to,... Read More

But I Bought All The Books And Tapes, And Im Still Unhappy!

I love this quote by Zig Ziglar, and think it's a perfect introduction to this article:"People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing- that's why we recommend it daily."The same... Read More

Joy Is Sexy

Joy is sexy because in embracing our joy, we embrace our positive energy and power. Joy is always there, waiting to be reclaimed. It is the bridge between living life by default and... Read More

SOLD! Again! Contrast Can Work FOR You

Have you ever had an experience where everything you wanted had come to you and THEN you discovered something that seemed to spoil the entire event?That's what happened to me last week when... Read More

Can Money Buy You Happiness?

Well, doesn't that depend on what's causing you to be unhappy, in the first place?If you've just lost a loved one, no amount of money will make you happy, only time and your... Read More

Colors: How Do They Make You Feel?

One of the most important colors in advertising is the color blue. Calm, comforting, soothing, and peaceful are all feelings evoked from this color. The color blue is also often used in a... Read More

A Model of Happiness

Everyone I've ever met considers happiness to be desirable. There is a whole wing of psychology called "positive psychology" studying things like happiness. One of the luminaries of this field is Dr. Martin... Read More

Gratitude For Dummies

Yes, it might feel great to win the lottery. Money, houses, travel - these are wonderful, but not enough by themselves. You need the right frame of mind to fully enjoy life. You... Read More

Self-Worthiness

Worthiness-word origin. Worth and worship both come from Old English weorth, worth value. Worship is composed of this word weorth, worth, + ship (a suffix meaning condition, office, etc. as in friendship and... Read More

10 Steps to Happily Ever After

Do you know what all happy and healthy marriages have in common? In every one of them you will find two people committed to making each other happy. You will find a man... Read More

5 Keys to Understanding Why Your Life (probably) Sucks! #3

The outcome of Reason # 2 is that you become your own worst enemy. That, in turn, leads on to Reason # 3 whereYou place more value on doing than beingIf you are... Read More

Suffering

Since wisdom is the art of coping with suffering, it starts with a willingness to tackle it head-on:a) Such is the harshness of our condition that we suffer, sometimes greatly or worse, insuperably.b)... Read More

The Art Of Happy Living

What do you think about happiness? A philosophical approach to life; an intellectual activity or an academical pursuit. No, not at all, nothing of the sort.Happy living is nothing more than living a... Read More

How Good Are You?

The demands of being a good person can sometimes mean sacrificing your own happiness.You may have been raised to be a good boy or girl; encouraged to be a good worker, to be... Read More

7 Things Happy People Know How To Do

Ever notice how some people just seem to be able to be content and bounce back no matter what the circumstances? Research shows that this isn't a gift or a talent ? it's... Read More

You Need To Start To Like Yourself

If you have a very low self esteem or a lack of self-confidence you may be seeking help to gain extra confidence.I was somebody who had a severe confidence crisis from the ages... Read More

Happiness - Cause and Effect

Your reaction to the events around you determines how you feel and how you affect those you come into contact with. Consider the following example:Jane, a bank executive, got caught in traffic on... Read More

Happiness - A Matter of Focus

Imagine for a moment you have been given a task. That task is to count the number of times five basketballs are passed between a group of people who are running around each... Read More

Quick Steps On Being Happier

Want to be happier?Edward W. Smith, motivational speaker, author and TV show host, who specializes in quick tips on how to move your life ahead even faster, offers the following advice.First, make a... Read More

Its All About Me: Why Its Good to Be Selfish

I started thinking about this topic during a discussion of "What You Wish You Knew Then". People were talking about the differences in their lives once they discovered that what makes them happy... Read More

How To Dance With Life

Fortunate, indeed, is the man who takes exactly the right measure of himself,and holds a just balance between what he can acquire and what he can use.~Peter Latham (1789-1875) In the Chinese philosophy... Read More

How To Be Happy

Happiness is a state of mind, so your state of mind at this moment makes all the difference.You need to ask yourself, is it what you want, the thing that is going to... Read More

Seven Strategies You Need to Know About Strengthening Your Self-Esteem

Did you know that your life's success in all areas is directly related to having a healthy self-esteem? You've heard the clich? "You are what you eat." Many would also argue that "You... Read More

Growing Up Backwards

It seems like I set out in this life to do things my own way and in my own time - no matter what was wise or prudent or tried, tested and true.... Read More

Happiness Versus Pleasure

We are a pleasure seeking society. Most of us spend our energy seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. We hope that by doing this, we will feel happy. Yet deep, abiding happiness and joy... Read More

Many Blessings

"Reflect on your present blessings of which every man has many, not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some." Charles DickensWe all have many blessings. If you made a list... Read More

Who Is More Likely To Be Happy?

Here's a multiple choice question for you. Who is more likely to be happy?(a) Someone who lays awake for an hour or so at night, replaying the day in their mind and agonising... Read More

See for Yourself : 12 Step Tools Can Bring Happy, Joyous and Free into Everyones Life

We are all familiar with or have heard of the many Twelve Step programs and communities. The reason the 12 Steps are so effective in helping people create happy, joyous and free lives... Read More

Body, Mind, and Soul

Being in tune with your mind, body, and soul and how they work is the one most important thing you can do for yourself. We know now that, the three work together. If... Read More