Life balance and physical well being.

Life balance and physical wellbeing.

Getting the balance right for yourself .

05/ 7/ 2008

The following is written with many generalisations; it is also written from a middle class 'western' background but hopefully much of it can apply to all.

If you don't read any further I can summarise what is wriiten below in one word and that is 'balance'.

This 'balance' for the writer of this involves a combination of personal health, relationships with others and financial health. What we seek will no doubt vary from one individual to the next, but it will be multi-faceted so as a result 'balance' is required.

We may all have different goals/dreams but what is required to get there?

You may wish to focus close to all your energies to your goals/dreams at certain times of your life such that the overall 'balance' is temporarilly displaced. If you are doing this then you are sacrificing something at the time which is o.k(for a while anyway).

Do you even need to think about getting this balance right? I think yes but particularly if you are (i), very goal orientated or (ii), you are struggling to attain the motivation you feel comfortable with. If your motivation is lacking you can look to others for inspiration but this is only part of the solution as it really needs to come from within.

You may have some habitual behaviours(habits) which are holding you back so taking a look at how you spend your time is a good starting point. Again preventing some time consuming habits from holding you back will most times require self control.

Other things holding you back from getting your own 'balance' could be psychological blocks. You can work through these yourself and it will require knowledge and memory to sort it/conquer it.

Those that surround you in your early years have the biggest influence on what the right 'balance' for you will be. You may wish to think through and modify some of what has been programmed into your mind from an early age

If you have a family then obviously your balance will likely include them all and many are willing to sacrifice their individual balance for the sake of their family. This topic has many branches so will leave it here.

Attaining most goals/dreams will require 'hard work', which often times involves a combination of mental and physical. This is spelled out because the mental(thinking) part of this equation is crucial. No matter what someone else might say a single coach/adviser can't do all the thinking for you. For your coach/adviser to be successful they will need to mold a programme for you which will involve your input, that is a 2 way dialogue.

Physical well-being hasn't been mentioned so far even though it is in the title. I define physical well-being as being your body health/condition and believe it is a crucial part of the 'balance' for everyone. Even if you are disabled in anyway it is still important, maybe even more important. Benefits of regular exercise will include more energy overall and better control of this energy. In general if you are fit physically and keep up some mental activities then you will be able to concentrate better and as such achieve well. Did I read a study or does this need to be proven?...give it a go and see....what works for you is what really matters and am sure it works for me.

Will leave the financial health part out of this article except to say it helps to be prepared and have something in reserve.

Below are a couple of general thoughts on achieving better relationships:

- don't be weak in your association with others and who you choose to associate with, for example be wary of people who are overly pessimistic or psychologically abusive in any way,

- be strong within, for example if someone is offensive to you, then 'don't let it eat you up'(waste your energy). They may have been offensive because they disagree with your opinions but the majority of the time it is their own insecurties that are coming out. Sometimes it is best to avoid/spend less time being around such people. Move on and be strong.

- don't be overly judgemental or let others influence judgements of associates for you. Be your own person.

- generally 'be modest' in preference to being a 'show off '.

The above is really saying don't let others unbalance you and don't give people a reason to try and unbalance you.

'Balance' related more specifically to triathlon.

This is really where I wanted to get with this article. Regardless of our aspirations we are pretty much always encouraged to start swimming, running and cycling for the general health benefits and enjoyment. Some of us have taken it a bit further and combined them to make a relatively new sport called triathlon. I believe thinking about 'balance' when taking up and continuing with this sport is going to be useful. This is particularly so because of the time component involved in doing triathlon sports. If you are not careful with planning your time, then you will most likely loose your balance.

So what can be done:

- surround yourself with people who believe in you or who have similiar goals/aspirations to yourself,

- prepare in advance, for example your meals,

- if you are following a programme then allow for some flexibility in it(don't over commit yourself),

Hopefully all of the above is just common sense to you. If it is just common sense then it can't do any harm to remind ourselves. You might say well 'who cares' and the answer is 'we all do'.