Have you ever felt that life feels jumbled and cluttered? Regardless of your performance domain - business, medicine, performing art or sport - success at times comes at the expense of balance. Time and commitment are two standards required for excellence of high performers and both can lead to an unbalanced lifestyle. The higher one moves up in performance level, work-family balance becomes more challenging to keep. The question that needs be answered is – What strategies are needed to maintain balance?
Having an ability to self-regulate and adapt to changing conditions can lead to better balance, and I have found that the greatest performers are always on a search to find balance in their lives. This is what makes them great performers and respected people. Due to outside influences or performance needs there are times that we will get out of balance, for example, when preparing for an upcoming event requiring new or improved skills. You prepare yourself to head into that event to be out of balance, however the challenge is to be aware and realize how to get yourself back into balance. Which raises the question, what do top performers do to live a balanced life? Here are 5 fundamentals that top performers practice to maintain balance.
Spiritual
This could be anything from taking a walk in the woods to making a trip to church on Sunday, whatever fills up your spiritual cup. What is important is to connect with the spiritual source so that you are grounded in what you spiritually value. This is how we renew ourselves when we are down and it’s something that can be easily neglected. If you score low here, make the time to rethink your connection with God, nature or whatever. You’ll feel refreshed and ready to tackle the world.
Social
Do you have a robust network of friends or not? Do you have a group of folks like you to hang out regularly, maybe for a book club, go for a hike or play a sport? If not, it’s time to start building these kinds of relationships. Having people around you that you like and trust is one of the best indicators of living a long life. If you are sacrificing relationships like these because you are working too hard, you’re not in balance.
Family
How balanced do you feel with your family time? What’s your relationship like with your spouse? Your kids? How about your parents and extended family members? Family ties are the tightest relationship you should have in your life no matter how busy things get at work. If you give yourself a low score here, it’s worth hitting the pause button to make the investment in repairing these relationships. Family members are truly part of your support network and you’ll never miss them more when you’re at a challenging point in your life or career.
Physical health
Whether you are a top surgeon or just a go getter at work, it’s easy to let things like exercise and diet go by the wayside once things get busy in the office. But your body is the only one you get and it needs to carry you until the end of the game. That’s why its critical to continue to keep your body strong and healthy enough to enable you to do the things that excite you-whether that’s traveling for business or visiting your grandkids. The key here is to be fit enough that you can always say “yes” to the things that you want to do. Be honest in your assessment of your health, having an improvement or maintainance plan is a good beginning that leads to the kind of balanced life you’re seeking!
Mental Skills
Mental skills, or psychological skills are tools for the mind. Mental Skills Training involves the systematic development and application of mental techniques and skills to enhance mental qualities that promote performance and well-being. Practicing a mental skill enables you to regulate thoughts, feelings, and actions. This comes in handy when taking on day to day challenges or significant disrupting events. These skills include positive self-talk, enhancing confidence, goal setting, and achieving the most productive mindset, among many other skills.
Finding balance among these five fundamentals are not always easy. But I will share a few words of wisdom of what can happen if you find yourself out of balance for too long. At one point in my career, I worked with a leader whose success had no end. However, his drive for success created waves that pushed others away, including those closest to him. He may have been a success in the element of business, but he struggled with meaningful relationships, and he was spiritually misguided. Some people might look at business history and refer to him as a success, though I would disagree. How can anyone be a great leader when they cannot even balance their own life? When someone lives an unbalanced life there are no winners regardless of their professional success.
Reach out to learn more about other fundamentals that great leaders share, or lets develop a plan to bring your own balance.
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