Create Less Stress and More Balance in Three Simple Steps

Published on Tuesday, July 11, 2023 by Deanna Salles-Freeman

The Myth of Balance

Oh, the “B” word. It conjures up notions of perfection, equal allotments of time, and impossibilities. But what if balance is actually realized through leverage? Using the areas we are naturally good in to pump up areas we are low.

Life balance seems subjective, but there are areas we all have in common. Areas that affect the quality of our lives. I refer to them as the “7 Fs” (inspired by Oola), and they are as follows: fitness, finance, family, field (career), faith, friends, and fun. Yes! Fun is integral in a life of balance.

Three Simple Steps

If it were easy, we’d all have it. Simple doesn’t always mean easy, but it does mean achievable. Comfort zones are not comfortable; they are familiar. Why do we stay there? Fear. Fear of what’s unfamiliar holds us back. The best way to move through fear is by taking action. We do it with baby steps. Small, consistent steps will get you there no matter what you want to take on. But before you can plot a course, you have to get real with where you are right now.

In these key areas, the “7 Fs”, take a minute to rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being amazing! Better yet, take a free life assessment quiz based on the “7 Fs”. The reality is most of us aren’t a 1 or a 10 but fall somewhere in between. So, step one is- where are you? Get honest with yourself and accept it as a place you can move from – your starting point.

Where you are is just where you are, it’s not WHO you are.

~Dr. Troy Amdahl

Now you have your blue dot on the map. This is you, right where you are. The next step is to look at the “7 Fs” and determine what you want that area to look like. Can your finances use some improvement? Would that alleviate some stress? Are you good with your friends but could use some work in the area of family? Look again at your score and decide where you want to be. That’s step two- where do you want to go? Drop a pin.

Now that you have where you are and where you want to go, you have to plot the course. Which leads us to step three- how are you going to get there? Remember those baby steps I mentioned earlier? If you’ve ever been around a toddler, you know how fast they move and how far they can go with just those little baby steps. And they are determined. What small actions can you take that will directly move the needle in the direction of your dreams? You dropped a pin. There’s a clear vision. Be determined to take at least three small daily action steps toward your goals.

Live by Design

We all have a desire to live our best life. The key areas of fitness, finance, family, field, faith, friends, and fun are common to everyone. The pin will move as our circumstances and priorities evolve, but the three steps remain the same. By getting honest with where you are, creating a vision of where you want to go, and taking three action steps daily to get there, your life will look different a year from now because you designed it. Stop living by default and live by design.

I see you, and YOU are beautiful!

_{Braun, D., & Amdahl, T. (2017). Oola, find balance in an unbalanced world : the 7 areas you need to balance and grow to live the life of your dreams. Health Communications, Inc.}
_{Latif, PhD, S. (2021, June 17). What Are Life Domains & How Can We Balance Them? PositivePsychology.com. https://positivepsychology.com/what-are-life-domains/}
_{Lupu, L., & Ruiz-Castro, M. (2021, January 29). Work-Life Balance Is a Cycle, Not an Achievement. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2021/01/work-life-balance-is-a-cycle-not-an-achievement}
_{Wagman, P., Håkansson, C., Jacobsson, C., Falkmer, T., & Björklund, A. (2012). What is considered important for life balance? Similarities and differences among some working adults. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 19(4), 377–384. https://doi.org/10.3109/11038128.2011.645552}