When I’m coaching and notice somebody is not balanced, it’s easy to go up to the fall line and simply push them over. I work with them on that. (of course) But when someone has good balance and is strong at the line, it doesn’t matter what or who comes up to them, they can’t get knocked over. They’re balanced and firmly planted. So I tell them that I can see their balance, how it’s building their strength and leverage.

Anyone who has ever spent any time on the lanes knows the importance of good balance. It’s so important. If you’re balanced at the end of your approach, you have better leverage. You have more power. You’re stronger. You have more potential. And, with that, comes more success. Balance is so fundamental.

And you guessed it, balance is as important off the lanes, in everyday life. We’ve been talking about goals lately too so I’ll tell you that whenever you have goals in mind, you first need good balance.

Sometimes it takes some reflection within to figure what is affecting your goals. So ask the deeper questions. When you look back on your time in a day, week or even a year, how does that make you feel?

What moments make you feel good and balanced? What moments not? Is time or energy lacking anywhere and how does that make you feel? Allow yourself to recognize and acknowledge what makes you feel good and balanced and where you can improve.

If you’re struggling with a goal, don’t just focus on the goal itself but on how you’re setting your balance. Turn things inside out. Look at how the balance behind every single step, every single day guides your greater successes with any plans and goals.

Besides your long “to do” lists or lists of goals, how and on what are you spending your time and energy? “To do” lists and goals are just one bucket, usually. What about the other areas? Have you taken time to think about where and how your energy is divided?

When any area of our lives is weak or causing stress, it can weaken your balance and overall foundation, causing any goal we’re going after to become more difficult to achieve. 

We need to put more focus on the balance in our life, in all the areas of our lives, not just spotlight one area where we’re seeking results.

For example, if I don’t have enough time with my family, I feel it. If I don’t commit to personal self-care time, such as at the gym, I feel less energized than when I do make that time. All of us have a different balance, but the important thing is that we all find our balance, that we find what makes us feel our best. If you give too much of yourself and nothing is refilling up your cup, that’s imbalance. And that’s something you need to look at. And you have heard that old adage, “You cannot pour from an empty cup.”

What areas of your life help you keep your cup refilled with energy each day, so that you can spend your energy in other areas? It’s another way of asking how something makes you feel, but with the focus on how it energizes you. 

Overall, when making choices, I’ve always paid attention to how things make me feel. There’s my trusty intuition again! And if they make me feel something positive or energized, I put more effort into it. And if I’m not attached to it, or it’s not something I feel is helping me fill my cup in any way, those are the things that I let go of. Giving myself that grace, and understanding that not everything actually requires my energy, and that some things drain energy, makes it a lot easier to choose my time wisely and find a sense of balance in my life. As soon as I began spending more time on the Elite Youth Tour I tuned into how it made me feel. And, nothing in my entire life was comparable to that positive feeling within me.

If we all just strived for more balance in our lives, all areas of our lives improve.

It’s just as important to take care that we don’t spread our energy too thin on too many things. When we’re trying to balance too many things, it’s hard to get adequate attention on any one thing. Nothing good really comes from that. Social life, family, school, career, sport, finances, health. All of it can take up our time. But which ones give back to you? And the answer is uniquely yours. As an example, social time fills some people with energy but drains others. So not everyone needs as much of it as others to feel balanced.

As with so many things in our lives, it’s about making choices and making commitments.  You have choices when it comes to your balancing act and figuring out how best to balance all of the things in your life. When we do try to balance all the things in our lives, we also have to recognize what is most important for filling us up, not just what is resulting in direct rewards. Then we can prioritize time on those things as much as on activities linked directly to the pursuit of the goals themselves, such as time practicing on the lanes.

Life really is a balancing act. Every day, and at different stages, we may be balancing in different ways, with different goals. But no matter what our aim, balance behind it makes every day easier (and so much more enjoyable too).

So, how have you spent your time today, this week and this month? And how has it affected your sense of balance? And has this Corona-time heightened your awareness of what you need to feel most balanced? It sure has for me! 

Allow me to improve your balance by claiming a FREE SEAT to my In Pursuit of Goals Masterclass on December 17 at 7pm cst. I promise you, after you attend you will feel more balanced and more in line with your goals going into the new year.