How to Do Life Balance Right

Welcome to the new year!

I love a fresh start. A blank slate. A chance to get things right. (At least for a few days. ;)

Here’s a question for you. If this were your last year on Earth, how would you spend it?

In my speaking programs, I spend a lot of time talking about “life balance,” which is a term I despise more than wet socks, mostly because no one can agree on what it means. Does it exist? Is it attainable? And if it is, what does it look like? Ultimately, deep down, when it comes to the concept of “life balance” (whatever it is), most people fear they’re not doing it quite right.

You know how you know if you’re doing it right? Here’s how:

If you’re living your life in such a way that if you were suddenly given just one year to live, you wouldn’t change a thing.

That’s a yardstick I use, and I think it cuts out all the fat. Am I there? Not all the way. I still worry too much about things that don’t matter. I don’t give as much attention as I should to the things that do. But I’m close. If this was my last year to live, there is very little about my life that I’d change. Of course, this has come with a cost, including a TON of thought, effort, and saying “no” more often than people would like me to.

Life balance is not about figuring out how to have it all. You can’t do everything. You have to choose. And choosing not to choose is a choice. So is going with the flow.

If this was your last year on Earth and you’re pretty sure you’d quit your job, then you need to start looking for work that matters.

If you’d embark on some sort of epic adventure with someone special, you need to book some tickets.

If you’d finally tell the people you love how you feel about them, you need to pick up the phone.

This year, maybe don’t worry so much about life balance, or resolutions, or trying to do it all. Instead, live your life in such a way that if you were suddenly given one year to live, you wouldn’t change a thing.

May this year be your best yet.