As readers of this blog know, “balance” is a concept I’m passionate about. I believe this to be an idea of such importance that I incorporated it into the tagline of this blog. The phrase, “Leaning Forward, With Balance” (see it up there, at the top?), is meant to capture two priorities I like to think about.
The first, “leaning forward”, creates a physical image of engagement with innovation, with change, with what is coming next. The second refers to the idea that while it is good to be efficient, it’s better to be effective, meaning that instead of doing things “right”, we do the right things.
And thinking about effectiveness is greatly enhanced by a life lived in balance, where we invest time and attention across many dimensions of our lives: productive (work), personal, physical, intellectual, spiritual, social and others.
As we head into a season of holidays and, hopefully, some quiet time, it is a good time to pause and reflect. As George Orwell famously said: “To see what’s in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle”. I have “balance” as a category on the right sidebar of this blog, enabling you to see a few other posts on balance-related topics.
That said, it’s been a while since I wrote about balance so instead of doing a specific post on the topic, I thought I’d refer you to some resources I’ve run across of the past few months which might get you thinking.
Suffering and Endurance
I have been a regular follower of Michael Hyatt for years now (how odd would that previous sentence have been prior to the social media age?). In fact, the theme for this blog leverages work that Michael has done.
The primary way I consume Michael’s work these days is via his podcast, which I generally listen to while I’m out for a walk. A few years ago Michael added a co-host to his podcast so that it wasn’t just him speaking on a topic for the entire time, and he wisely chose Michele Cushatt to join him in the studio. To describe Michele as “high energy” or “positive” would be an understatement. I’ve not met her but she is one of those people who can leap through electronic connections and make a personal impression.
Anyhow, Michael announced some time ago that Michele had some serious health issues and would be away. I always wondered what the details were, but wasn’t really aware of Michele’s profound suffering until she and Michael sat down for this podcast recently to discuss her third battle with cancer. You can either listen to it as I did here, or watch the video of their discussion below. Their conversation is honest, positive, explores the unanswerable question of suffering, and provides those who are suffering (or those of us close to someone who is) some thoughts about how to find meaning.
Health
The last resource for you in this post is another book recommendation: Eat, Move Sleep. This book by Tom Rath has been out for some time, but this is a good time of year to grab it for another read. I have written in earlier posts about another work from Tom – StrengthsFinder. Tom has some unique health challenges which has caused him to be more intentional than most of us when he makes daily choices. Combining that with his innate curiosity and writing ability is what led to this book.
I found the book to be quick, informative, interesting, and inspiring. I don’t know about you, but I often make poor choices in all three of these areas, and suspect that is true for many of us. But there are resources like this one which can help us become more educated and more inspired to make the right choices.
And yes, to be more balanced. Good luck!
Note: The title of this post refers to “three resources” but the astute reader will only see two. This is because one of the resources was a book written by Eric Greitens, who later was forced to resign from his Governor chair (MO) due to a raft of ugly accusations that showed the degree to which his actual life was a gross contradiction to the message in his book.
Also published on Medium.