Corridors of Curiosity 022

Hey Friend, Happy Sunday!

I have been curious about the concept of BALANCE!

Specifically, the human interpretation of life balance.

I think most of humankind wants to live with some semblance of balance.

Yet - we just wish for it, we just expect it to magically happen.

Like anything in life - we must figure out the balance and implement until we find some sort of equilibrium.

In my opinion, there are 3 types of Balance: Daily, Seasonal, and the Long term play.

I think it would be useful to step back and define what balance means to you. More on this at the end of the letter!

The first perspective I want to dive into is the “Daily Balance.”

This version hangs it hat on balanced days. Never obsessing over one thing, getting a nice mix of all aspects of life.

This is what most people blindly believe they want. There is a big problem - very few people have the energy to uphold this consistency in multiple areas of life.

You might know people that try so hard to have a perfect balanced day that it ends up in them being burnt out after a couple weeks.

Maintaining a daily balance is hard because of the realities of life, the boredom of routine, and the patience required to see results of growth.

The next type of balance is the “Seasonal Balance”

This is how nature works.

Hard to imagine bears being as vicious without their seasonal hibernation habits. Most species of animals gives birth in seasonal format to ensure the safety for their offspring. Trees let their leaves go and grow them back based on the seasons.

For us humans, we can choose seasons of intensity and seasons of rest.

This is becoming more common due to the ability to leverage higher levels of focus on a couple aspects of life versus spreading equal focus out in all areas.

You might try to direct your focus to 2-3 things in a period of intensity, obsessing over important factors to help you speed up the process towards whatever goals you may have.

For example: I have been in seasons of intense studying my craft (performance training + human movement) and in seasons of focusing on writing, reading, and creating.

I am about to enter a season of intense building and creating. I am currently locking in a lot of my life tasks through systems so I can leverage my energy for building and creation purposes.

The Last perspective is the “Long Term Play”

This viewpoint places ample focus on work and stacking up their funds.

This type of person works long hours, long weeks, and has a master plan that will pay off in the future.

They are putting in lots of work in the present so they can see returns on their efforts later on in life.

They sacrifice a lot for the opportunity to earn position, money and sometimes even power.

This is a risky bet - as the results of a long term play could end up being less than expected.

We only get one life, there are plenty of stories of people who look back regretting their choices to forgo important celebrations, reunions, and even their children growing up.

I am not here to paint any of these as the best or the worst - in fact, I utilize a mixed approach in my own life.

I am a hybrid due to my preference towards independence and personal freedom. I am also very dumb and stubborn.

I am going with the flow, deciding as I go along the path. Some weeks, it just feels right to take the foot off the gas.

Some other weeks, I feel obsessed with my projects and goals - to the point of ignoring basic health principles (regular movement, regular sleep, nutritional habits, etc)

I guess — I am still figuring out my balance.

This is a iterative process — meaning it will shift and reshape as we go along our journeys. We must give ourselves grace as we experiment with different routines and habits.

I wanted to end with some questions to ask yourself when trying to figure out what type of balance you would like to implement.

1. What are my biggest wants? (Be specific, don’t feel bad for what YOU want! There are no wrong answers here.)

2. Do I need structure on a day to day basis? (What does this look like, what is your ideal day? Again, be specific and selfish, no one else will see your answers!)

3. What would I sacrifice to dive into a season of intensity? (What do you really want - and what would you sacrifice in order to direct more energy and focus towards your goals?)

Feel free to create your own questions. Create your own philosophy around balance. Maybe, you don’t value balance at all!

Just try your best to be your best.

See you next week,

Paril