To live a full life, there is an important principle you need to remember. The principle is stay balanced. Violating this principle will only lead you to misery.
There are five aspects of life that you need to keep balanced:
- Work
- Health
- Learning
- Social
- Spiritual
Unfortunately, many people have what I call “unbalanced success”: they have tremendous success in one or two aspects of their lives but at the expense of the other aspects.
To the outsiders, they might seem to be ‘wildly successful’, ‘living the dream’, and so on, but the facts are different. Their family life might be unhappy, they might be physically weak, or they might be depressed. In any case, living an unbalanced life will cost you a lot.
That’s why it’s important that you make a deliberate effort to stay balanced. You need to make it a priority.
For many people, the one aspect that causes the other aspects to suffer is Work. They spend so much time at work that they don’t have enough time for the other aspects. They don’t have enough time to be with their family and friends, to grow spiritually, or to exercise and rest.
But why does it happen?
In most cases, I believe there is an underlying belief that causes it. The belief is that having more money will make me happier. This belief causes them to spend so much time at work at the expense of the other aspects of their lives.
But you know what? Living that way will not make you happy. Instead, it will make you miserable. Sure, it may take years before you feel the effect. You might even feel good along the way. But the end is inevitable unless you change direction.
So how can we overcome this? How can we stay balanced and not fall into this trap?
You need to attack the false belief at the core of it. You need to attack the belief that having more money will make you happier. The antidote is being content.
The truth is, it’s okay not to have as much as your neighbors and friends. It’s okay to live a simple life. You might not seem to be outwardly successful, but you’ve got something better than that. By living a balanced life with contentment, you have achieved what many people try to achieve: living a full and happy life. And that’s what matters.
