In the last article we talked about physical balance, in this article we will talk about balance as in time management and quality of life and inner peace.
When one thinks of balance, the first thing that comes to mind is images of tight rope walking and walking along edges, but balance is a much larger concept. In this article I will first explain the concept of balance, how to achieve it, how to know when you achieve it and lastly some tips tricks that I find useful so that you can try them as well.
When one lives a full and complicated life, it can be hard to give adequate time and attention to the many aspects of you life. People may find that they spend too much time and energy into some aspects of their life and not others. This could lead to cataclysm of the soul. A very common example of such behavior is people who throw themselves into their career and become workaholics. Yes being a workaholic is great for your career, but if you are a family man it can be devastating to your marriage and hurtful to your relationships with your children. Someone who is a workaholic does not have balance in their lives. There are many such ambitions that can cause a person to stagger and lose balance.
Someone who has balance in their life puts forth the right amount of time and effort into each of the sections of their life and does so happily. If someone is honestly dividing there attentions properly but is unable to do so happily, this indicates that even though they have balance, they might be carrying to much weight. In the case of carrying too much weight the only way to recover from this is the lighten the load (sometimes easier said than done). A good book that talk a lot about time management that I found very helpful is "The Gorilla Mindset" https://www.amazon.com/Gorilla-Mindset-Control-Thoughts-Emotions-ebook/dp/B0100Q4S7E.
Just like walking on the slack line or riding a unicycle, when one does find balance, the feeling is extraordinary and your life falls into place like a well oiled machine, that being said it is much easier for your machine to operate if you are fueling it properly. There are many diets out there, here is one written by a friend of mine https://steemit.com/life/@ant884/simple-diet-for-new-year-s-resolution-the-green-faces-diet#@ant884/re-embomb701-re-ant884-simple-diet-for-new-year-s-resolution-the-green-faces-diet-20171229t013908634z. Personally I use Ultimate Diet 2.0 https://store.bodyrecomposition.com/product/the-ultimate-diet/.
So far we talked about properly fueling the machine and not over burdening yourself, but there are so many aspects to this that will we do this bullet style.
- First and foremost you must list your goals, this is the best way to not only plainly see what you are trying to achieve but also this gives you a good look at the burden. For example: Perform well at work, spend time with family, exercise 4 days a week, read 1 book a week, learn to surf, learn to sail, improve rock climbing, invest, keep lawn mowed, take online college courses, write daily blog, social club, mountain biking, train martial arts. Now that you see the list, consider how many hours a week it would take to accomplish these tasks and if it the hours do not add up make cuts. You can always add things to the list and take things away on a monthly basis so you can accomplish more. Also you can combine things that work together, more on this below.
- Now that you have your goals, you need to prioritize them, this is essential because if you have a scheduling conflict you already know what will take priority.
- Okay we have goals and they are prioritized but now we have to think about logistics and time management. This one requires more free thought. Do I go to the gym before work and shower there or do I lift after work. So on and so fourth.
- The next suggestion is to cleverly combine goals. For example, if you train Jiu Jitsu on Monday and rock climbing on Tuesday now you are hitting exercising, Martial Arts, rock climbing all at once (and improving at all of them). Now if you use Audio Books while you drive you can also add in reading college work and investing together as well while you drive to work and the gym. Good site for free legal audio books https://librivox.org/. This skill combination tip is huge and if you really consider it using today's modern technology and solutions with a bit of creativity you can really put a dent into your work load.
- Be in the Moment! Next on this list is removing distractions. Now in today's day in age distractions are everywhere but you have to have self control. For example, whether you are at work or spending time with the family, it is no longer okay to continue working on your other goals, (Unless you prioritize them higher, this is your life and you do what you want with it). So if you are like me and you are a trader, maybe with a rare exception you might let trading take priority momentarily (if there is a huge opportunity), but this is a slippery path and this could lead to issues. The point here is when you are with your family, be with your family and if you are at work, focus on your job. Discipline is essential for every aspect of life, if you lack discipline in my opinion fixing that should be priority number one.
- Diet and Supplementation, Coffee is King. Coffee will carry you through when you are tired, keep you sharp when you are are dull and even curb your appetite. Beet Root Juice Extract, this stuff pumps your veins full of Nitrites Oxide which dilates the veins and helps them carry oxygen to the body, this stuff took 3 minutes off my 5k times in less then a week. ZMA , if you are a man over 30, you should be taking ZMA every night before bed, because most men are lacking Zinc and Magnesium from their diet. Lastly Fish Oil, most people do not eat a diet with enough of the Omegas that Fish oil provides. https://examine.com/supplements/fish-oil/.
Okay to summarize, Set goals, prioritize them, use your time combining efforts that can help you work toward many goals at once. Live in the moment that you are in and properly fuel your body to achieve your goals. Now look, we are human, error. We fall out of balance and get consumed. I have done this myself, when I got into Crypto I lost my balance and I went from 150 pounds and 9% Body fat, Killing it in competitions, work, college courses and spending time with the family. To weighing 170, consumed with Crypto, missing training to trade, missing sleep to trade, stopped taking college courses, my family upset with me and body fat almost 20%. This all happened in about 5 months time, this is how fast your world can crumble once you lose balance. This affected my whole life, I would show up to work tired, this led to mistakes. I would be grumpy and agitated with my family, this caused conflict. I missed many training sessions with Jiu Jitsu, this caused me to perform badly. I missed many lifting sessions, this would cause me to experience DOMS the days after the rare occasions that I did lift. My life was completely out of balance, I invested too much time and attention into one aspect, this caused everything else to crumble. However, this is not the end, one can recover and the first step is to realize your error. While I am not yet back to where I was last August, I am well on my way. I am not yet walking the tight rope but I am standing up straight and walking in a straight line, it will be a matter of weeks before I am back to my previous high, then onto new All Time Highs!
None of us can stay at our best forever, even the greatest Olympian in history (and my hero), Michal Phelps has lost his balance and staggered before, but the true test of will is not how high you can climb, but how well you get back up once you fall.
I wish good fortune to you all and while this is not financial advice, I think the best move in Bitcoin right now is to HODL. Tough times will pass, I just went 8 days without power and now, that's it passed. I got through Boot Camp, 6 months at sea, survived a stabbing, influenza, ACL tear/surgery, Mono, turf toe and several injuries that I can't think of at the moment and I am still here. The point is its not over so long as you draw breath.
- Diet and Supplementation, Coffee is King. Coffee will carry you through when you are tired, keep you sharp when you are are dull and even curb your appetite. Beet Root Juice Extract, this stuff pumps your veins full of Nitrites Oxide which dilates the veins and helps them carry oxygen to the body, this stuff took 3 minutes off my 5k times in less then a week. ZMA , if you are a man over 30, you should be taking ZMA every night before bed, because most men are lacking Zinc and Magnesium from their diet. Lastly Fish Oil, most people do not eat a diet with enough of the Omegas that Fish oil provides. https://examine.com/supplements/fish-oil/.