Most of us juggle between work and life, and learning how to live a full life is no easy task. Why?
For some of us, it needs not to be a long life as long as it’s been a fulfilling life of achievements, happiness, and no regrets. But, how many of us actually go on to experience that entirely? It sometimes sounds more like a pipe dream–a fantasy rather than reality.
It’s a common misconception that you must sacrifice certain parts of your full life to fulfil others — from work, to health, to relationships.
Maybe you’re overwhelmed by all the daily demands. Maybe you don’t feel like you have enough time and energy. Or maybe you just haven’t untapped your own strengths and potential to achieve everything you want in life, and so when in times of adversity, you just give up trying to balance them all.
And then you’ll also get comments from some, saying that this ‘fulfilling life’ is only possible if you’re so rich that you don’t have to care about working, paying the bills or providing for your family. While there is some truth to that, I’m happy to say that financial freedom isn’t the only answer to living a fulfilling life.
But here’s the truth:
We cannot afford to keep trading one important part of our lives to achieve another. No one can achieve true happiness this way.
The reality is that different aspects of your life are interlinked and interdependent. Everything influences the other; for example, a bad family life can bring down your career, and poor health can bring down everything.
What you don’t realize is that you will pay great consequences later if you trade off one thing to achieve another right now. And these consequences are almost irreversible.
The secret is to not just balance all areas of your life—but to excel in them, too.
What Is a Full Life?
To live a full life, there’re six aspects of life that you need to take care of. Neglecting any of them will only make you regret later.
Living a full life is all to do with two concepts: Life Aspects and Core Skills.
I developed these concepts early in my career, after I burnt myself out through pushing myself more and more—until my mind and body eventually gave up!
When my health had been compromised, I lost the energy and motivation to keep going with my career. This also led to a decline in my self-confidence and a drop in my creative abilities.
However, it wasn’t all bad news; I used the downtime as a wake-up call. I realized that anything taken to the extreme is not sustainable and that a happy, healthy, and successful life only comes when all parts of our lives are in balance.
This was the impetus for creating Life Aspects: six areas of life that need to be balanced and fulfilled in order for us to function naturally and optimally.
Let’s take a look now at the six Life Aspects.
1. Physical Health
Just imagine how much more you could achieve in life if you had tons of drive and energy. Simple things like improving your diet, exercising more, or learning meditation could lead to big gains in your physical and mental health. And this would inevitably lead to gains in ALL areas of your life.
2. Family and Relationship Fulfillment
Our relationships are critical to our success and well-being. Where possible, you should limit the time you spend with negative people and increase the time you spend with creative, enthusiastic, and supportive people.
3. Work and Career Prosperity
When you focus on progressing your career, you’ll have goals to aim for. Furthermore, research has shown that striving towards goals makes people happier[1].
4. Wealth and Money Satisfaction
Despite what you may have heard, money is not the root of all evil. That’s the love of money! Your focus should be on offering a service to the world. If it’s something that people need, then you should charge fairly for it and enjoy the rewards.
5. Spiritual Wellness
While I’m predominantly a logical person, I don’t believe that every decision and action has to be based on facts and figures. Sometimes we need to follow our intuition and our heart. Whether you believe there is a power greater than us or not, spiritual practices such as contemplation, breathing exercises, and singing can help you to tap into a world beyond logic.
6. Mental Strength
It’s easy to spot someone with a weak mind. They have no focus, no discipline, and they lack drive and conviction. On the other hand, someone with a strong mind is easy to spot, too. They will be dynamic, purposeful, and engaging. They’ll also impress you as someone who can “get things done.”
My recommendation is that you take some time to study and think about the six Life Aspects. Look for areas that you should limit and areas that you should expand.
Once you’ve successfully balanced the six Life Aspects—you’ll have put “working smarter” into action.