I\u2019ve read quite a few articles about an overused topic, life balance.\u00c2\u00a0 Almost all of them support the assumption that more balance is better.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u2019d like to challenge that assumption by claiming that life balance is an overrated goal.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u2019s better to cycle through obsessions than to constantly try to preserve balance.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0\u201cAlmost everything meaningful is accomplished by a megalomaniac on a mission.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Balance is static, it\u2019s the opposite of change and the opposite of growth.\u00c2\u00a0 I know few people who accomplished a really difficult goal without, at some point, becoming obsessively focused on it.\u00c2\u00a0 If you do reach your goal while maintaining perfect balance, it probably wasn\u2019t too difficult to reach.<\/p>\n Homeostasis is the body\u2019s way of preserving balance.\u00c2\u00a0 Many of the body\u2019s systems are designed to resist change.\u00c2\u00a0 If you get too hot, your body evaporates sweat to cool down.\u00c2\u00a0 If the calcium levels in your blood become too low, your body will leach a small amount from your bones.<\/p>\n While homeostasis can keep you alive, it can also sabotage your efforts for change.\u00c2\u00a0 If you go on a strict diet to lose weight, your body will compensate by slowing your metabolism.\u00c2\u00a0 If you stop smoking, your body will force cravings to encourage you to get nicotine back to ordinary levels.<\/p>\n Obsession, not balance, makes things happen.\u00c2\u00a0 The people that accomplish goals that require a lot of change throw themselves into it.\u00c2\u00a0 This requires conscious effort, since homeostasis wants to keep everything the same.\u00c2\u00a0 Getting out of balance, gives you the momentum to set a new balancing point for life.<\/p>\n When I started building this website, I put my effort into getting out of balance, not maintaining it.\u00c2\u00a0 I knew that it would require a lot of effort and a sharp learning curve to get started, and the natural tendency would be to avoid the work.\u00c2\u00a0 By getting obsessed about it, I was able to get a foothold in the blogosphere.<\/p>\n I took the same approach when I wanted to rebuild my social life after moving to a new city.\u00c2\u00a0 In the first few weeks, my social life was always my top priority and I built friends fairly quickly.\u00c2\u00a0 The times when I slowed down or stalled always happened when I tried to spread my energy over several areas at once to regain balance.<\/p>\n Today, if I go for a goal, I make sure it takes a top priority, even if it means sacrificing other parts of my life temporarily.\u00c2\u00a0 I recently did this for a highly competitive business plan course, and now our team will be competing internationally at the graduate level.\u00c2\u00a0 During the last four months, my life was out of balance.\u00c2\u00a0 I didn\u2019t work as much on this website as I wanted to, I spent less time with friends, and I definitely was overworked.\u00c2\u00a0 But those things are temporary, the experiences and achievements from that will last a lot longer.<\/p>\n In the long-term, balance is necessary.\u00c2\u00a0 If you erect a building on an uneven surface, it will eventually collapse or fall over.\u00c2\u00a0 If you chronically overwork one part of life, and avoid other areas, you won\u2019t be happy.\u00c2\u00a0 Extreme financial success with no relationships is just as miserable as being in great health but in poverty.<\/p>\n But long-term balance doesn\u2019t mean short-term balance.\u00c2\u00a0 I cycle through periods of extreme work with extreme relaxation.\u00c2\u00a0 Working for 6-8 months to reach a difficult goal and then spending 4 months to rest and pursue no-pressure activities.\u00c2\u00a0 Even within those periods, I\u2019ll probably have mini-cycles where I work hard for 5-6 days and take the next day off.<\/p>\n Going through cycles is more effective than constantly maintaining balance.\u00c2\u00a0 Cycles allow you to fully immerse yourself in a project or fully relax without feeling guilt.\u00c2\u00a0 Inserting smaller cycles into larger ones is the best way to avoid the problems of burnout or rustout that can happen when you\u2019re temporarily out of balance.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve argued that cycling obsessions is more effective than perfect balance, but is it a better way to live?\u00c2\u00a0 I feel it is.\u00c2\u00a0 Always trying to maintain the same output for every area of life becomes boring.\u00c2\u00a0 There are no challenging goals or exciting adventures.\u00c2\u00a0 The fulfilling parts of life are the same parts that throw us out of balance.<\/p>\n In order to take on an exciting project, you\u2019ll have to spend less time with friends or family and spend more than a few stressed nights thinking about it.\u00c2\u00a0 In order to travel the world, you\u2019ll probably have to put a temporary hold on your career.\u00c2\u00a0 In order to focus on your kids you may have to pass up a promotion.<\/p>\n Many people drive themselves insane because they try to always maintain balance, but still grab onto these opportunities.\u00c2\u00a0 They want the promotion, friends, family, adventure, relaxation all in the highest amounts all at the same time.\u00c2\u00a0 And, for the most part, it can\u2019t be done.<\/p>\n Perfect balance ends up becoming an impossible juggling act.\u00c2\u00a0 You can never make the radical improvements needed to take you to the next level in any area.\u00c2\u00a0 But at the same time, it takes a lot of effort to keep things from slipping.<\/p>\n However, if you cycle obsessions, you can experience all of those things, if not at the same time.<\/p>\n The only thing worse than chronic balance is a chronic obsession.\u00c2\u00a0 Just as important as it is to focus, it\u2019s important to cycle those focuses.\u00c2\u00a0 Some people get into a pattern of investing in only one area, until that area becomes a long-term obsession.\u00c2\u00a0 Every few months, take another look at your values and see whether you need to switch your focus.<\/p>\n I\u2019m using the word obsession fairly liberally, so I\u2019d like to explain that obsessing on a goal doesn\u2019t mean giving up everything to pursue it.\u00c2\u00a0 If it did, you might gain one thing from your obsessive conquest and lose everything else.<\/p>\n When you\u2019re obsessively focused, whether it\u2019s on relaxation, work, your social life or your health, you still spend time to sustain the other areas of your life.\u00c2\u00a0 Recently, working in this competitive, business-plan course, I still spent some time for the gym, friends, my girlfriend and this website.\u00c2\u00a0 But I was focused more on sustaining, than making major improvements.<\/p>\n Sustaining activities means you still habitually invest some time, but it\u2019s mostly on autopilot.\u00c2\u00a0 I wrote articles for the last four months, but I did what I needed to sustain the website.\u00c2\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t actively involved in dreaming up new projects or marketing campaigns.\u00c2\u00a0 I also spent time with friends, but I didn\u2019t actively meet new people or build a social circle.<\/p>\n Can you sustain everything perfectly?\u00c2\u00a0 Probably not.\u00c2\u00a0 But that\u2019s not the point.\u00c2\u00a0 I know that even if a few parts of life don\u2019t see huge improvements, I can reinvest in those areas again in several months when I reach my target.<\/p>\n You can\u2019t be everything at once, so don\u2019t try to be.\u00c2\u00a0 Put enough energy into one pursuit at a time until you can make meaningful accomplishments, then cycle that energy onto something else.\u00c2\u00a0 Zig Ziglar has a great quote, \u201cDon\u2019t be a wandering generality.\u00c2\u00a0 Be a meaningful specific.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019ve read quite a few articles about an overused topic, life balance.\u00c2\u00a0 Almost all of them support the assumption that more balance is better.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u2019d like to challenge that assumption by claiming that life balance is an overrated goal.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u2019s better to cycle through obsessions than to constantly try to preserve balance. \u00c2\u00a0\u201cAlmost everything meaningful […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[18,4,680],"tags":[273,36,88,26,272,274],"class_list":{"0":"post-886","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-energy-management","7":"category-goal-setting","8":"category-nc-productivity","9":"tag-balance","10":"tag-energy","11":"tag-focus","12":"tag-goals","13":"tag-life-balance","14":"tag-obsession","15":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nObsession and Goal-Setting<\/h2>\n
\u00c2\u00a0<\/span>Long-Term Versus Short-Term Balance<\/h2>\n
Perfect Balance is Boring<\/h2>\n
Avoid the Chronic Obsession<\/h2>\n
Sustaining Activities<\/h2>\n
Be a Meaningful Specific<\/h2>\n