Why did I start this blog? I wanted to have a way to document my thoughts on finding a balance in life.
I’m not sure what balance is exactly. I suspect it is less about being 50% at work and 50% at non-work and trying to juggle responsibilities at both. For me balance is more about being able to enjoy your life from start to finish, day by day.
In my own mind, balance, is akin to finding the center point of a Venn diagram. All those circles of your life – family, work, finance, exercise and then finding a place where you can get it all. Lifestyle design if you will. Except that sounds a bit esoteric, so let’s call it balance.
Balance is like finding flow in your work or project. Balance includes social cohesion of family, friends and colleagues. Balance means being fit and healthy. Balance means helping others. Balance is the combination of all the above.
Now I’ve seen people try to do it through sheer willpower. A high-paying career and stressed out of their minds that they can’t see their kids. You don’t need to be the peak of every area, trying to achieve everything. That’s not for me, at least not long term.
I’d like to build something more purposeful and sustainable. A sort of marathon instead of a sprint concept. My life combining a few sprints, not sure.
I sprinted to try build up enough capital to not need to work anymore. Now that I’ve crossed the financial line, I’ve taken to building a different lifestyle.
I could’ve continued in the high pressure environment to keep getting more. But it felt as if 80% of my time was wasted in that environment. Other aspects of balance are not being addressed. Exercise and social were lacking. Thus I felt out of balance.
I enjoyed a Richard Branson post I read. He wrote about five tips on making every day count. It resonated with me, keep things simple and building a life of purpose.
I’ve included his five tips in bold and my thoughts thereafter. They are:
1. Something fun to start the day – He was playing tennis or kitesurfing. My ideas are exercising in the morning, but have also gone for a bike ride, yoga, or other sport.
2.Just do it – stop worrying about what others think and rather work hard and take chances. This is something that I struggle with. Not about what others think (that too) but over-analyzing everything. It’s a real burden, but useful for financial independence. However, I need to just do it more, ha.
3. Set goals and challenge yourself – set short term and long term goals and write them down. I’ve always loved keeping notes. I write them in notebooks with beautiful bound covers. In future, I’ll include this platform as I don’t run out of space and can keep writing.
4. Take a break – No-one should work 100% of the time even on their passion. Fatigue creates poor work. Instead, take some time out. I love walks for thinking.
5. Do some good – I’m assessing a lot of options for work/businesses. If I were to pursue my next venture I’d wish to have both the benefit of exciting projects whilst helping others – be it a social good or customers. Additionally during the pandemic and hard economic times, there are a lot of family and friends that we’re able to support or help who have health issues or are struggling with loneliness due to having time flexibility.
I enjoyed his 5 simple tips, because it really is that simple to create balance in life. We all have different relationships, families and work. These circumstances change, sometimes suddenly, sometimes purposefully. A system for day-to-day living creates joy in its simplicity.
After all, what’s the point of pursuing financial independence if we forget to enjoy the journey.
