Living Well: 12 Important Elements of a Balanced Life
Balance is not always easy to achieve. We are constantly pulled in different directions with the need to juggle self, work, family, friends, and fun. In this article, we will examine 12 important elements of a balanced life so you can begin to develop an awareness of how to find peace, harmony, happiness, and balance. Additionally, I encourage you to maintain a positive, healthy mindset while on your journey to a balanced life.
Admittedly, no one has the time or energy to devote themselves fully to one single aspect of their lives without neglecting others, so it is essential to prioritize your needs so you can have some semblance of harmony in the wholeness of your life.
Key Takeaways:
- The 12 elements of a balanced life encompass physical, mental, social, spiritual, and emotional well-being with an emphasis on harmony across all dimensions to achieve balance and happiness.
- Living a balanced life does not mean you live a perfect life. It means you are able to deal with challenges and work through problems in a positive and productive manner.
- To live a balanced life, you need to establish values and goals, develop priorities and routines, work together with loved ones, and maintain a positive mindset.
What is a Balanced Life?
In order to live a balanced lifestyle, you must consider many areas of your life — including mental health, physical activity, a balanced diet, work-life balance, social activities, peace of mind, daily goals, stress reduction, meaningful relationships, a sense of purpose and more.
The most important thing is your overall quality of life and happiness. In a well-balanced life, you want to have enough time to take good care of yourself and your loved ones. You want to live a happy and productive life on a daily basis. You want to have meaningful ways to contribute to the lives of people and the world around you.
Living a balanced life doesn’t mean you have a perfect life; it means you are able to maintain a positive attitude about life even when faced with stressful situations. You are able to maintain financial stability, family responsibilities, a healthy social life, and energy levels that allow you to live your best life.
Be sure to get enough sleep and regular exercise; enjoy healthy food and spending time doing things you love. Listen to your body’s needs and monitor your physical health as well as your emotional self care. Your immune system, high blood pressure, and heart disease should be priorities for your personal health.
Chronic stress can significantly impact your ability to maintain a better balance in life. A healthy work-life balance is also essential.
The good news is you can develop new habits that allow you to live a healthy lifestyle if you focus on these 12 key elements of a balanced life.
12 Important Aspects of a Balanced Life: Let’s Begin
The best lives are balanced lives but many people have a hard time balancing their professional and personal lives. The proper balance of self, work, family, friends, and fun can create a fulfilling life for anyone. But there are many aspects of a balanced life that need to be considered in order to achieve the perfect balance.
In order to have a better understanding of what a balanced life is, you should consider the following 12 aspects:
1. Love
Love is the first important aspect of a balanced life.
With so many distractions in our modern world that take our attention away from the people and things that matter most, it can be difficult to carve out time for what is most important.
One of the best ways to build a balanced life is by caring for the relationships in your life. Whether it’s making time for your spouse or putting in quality time with family members, love can be one of the most selfless acts you do for yourself and those around you.
Loving your partner does not just mean physical, emotional, or romantic. It means putting in the time to listen to each other, pay attention to their needs, focus on their interests and sharing responsibilities.
It is important to nurture your adult relationship with love, kindness, patience, and understanding.
It is also important to lean into the self love movement and learn to take good care of yourself. When you practice self love, you will become the best version of yourself and you’ll be better able to love those around you. You are just as worthy of your love as those around you.
2. Friendship
The next aspect of living a balanced life is friendships. Friendships are priceless gems that should not be ignored.
Friends can be your best friend, your therapist, and your cheer squad all in one, but many people take them for granted and forget how hard it is to find genuine friendships.
So it’s important to nourish your friendships and make them healthy relationships; let your friends know you care about them. And spend time with them. Positive social interaction is an important element of a balance life.
Related Article: How to Improve Social Wellness: 9 Awesome Tips
3. Adventure
The third aspect of a balanced life is adventure. Yes! Fun and adventure is an important component to a balanced life!
It is hard to pursue a happy, balanced life when you are living in the same routine every day. To be more balanced, it’s important to find adventure outside of your daily routine.
It’s also beneficial to plan travel adventures — whether near or far from home — travel adventures contribute to your overall wellness and happiness. Studies show traveling is important to your overall wellness and balance.
And if you struggle with chronic pain (like I do) that prevents you from traveling or adventuring outside of your comfort zone, check out this article about 31 of my best tips for traveling with chronic pain. I bet you’ll find some useful tips that will help you feel more comfortable planning some fun adventures!
For more life quotes, you may want to check out 50+ Inspirational Quotes About Living Life on Your Own Terms.
4. Environment
It may be hard to believe, but your environment can have a significant impact on your life. If you work or live in a messy, cluttered environment, it will create more stress for you without you even realizing it. Even if your car is messy or cluttered, it is creating undue stress.
Research suggests that a minimalist approach to your environment is the best way to go today! It helps you maintain your schedule better; it helps you feel more relaxed; and you generally will have a designated place for everything.
I invite you to read How Minimalism Can Help You Find Wellness to learn more about why it’s important to a balanced life of wellness. Even getting organized early for holidays and special events can make your life less chaotic and happier. Give it a try!
Related Article: How to Bring More Cozy Into Your Life
5. Health and Self Care
The next aspect of living a balanced life is health and self care. Without having a healthy life, you will not be able to fully enjoy the other aspects of life.
It takes time and effort to maintain your physical well-being for optimal energy and productivity. You can start by simply cutting back on coffee and alcohol, getting more sleep, and exercising.
Maintaining a healthy diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables will also help maintain your overall health.
If you are taking good care of your physical self, you will find the right balance in your body, mind, and soul.
Self care is a critical aspect of a balanced life. Read about positive selfishness to develop a greater understanding of the reasons we need to find time in our busy lives for health and self care. You may also want to look at our 30 Day Self Care Challenge for inspiration!
6. Intellect
Many people think that intellectual pursuits are unimportant in the pursuit of a well-rounded life, but the truth is intellect is just as important as the other aspects of a balanced life. There are an abundance of intellectual wellness tips to keep your brain healthy and nourished!
Brainpower is often neglected when it comes to personal development, but it needs to be nurtured if you want to live a more balanced life. Developing your intellect can be done through reading books, participating in debates, learning new languages, traveling, watching documentaries, and even doing crossword puzzles.
It’s important to keep your brain active, especially as you get older. Just like a healthy body supports a healthy mind, a healthy mind supports a healthy body.
7. Occupational Skills
The next aspect of living a balanced life is occupational skills. Occupational skills come in many forms; they are not just skills associated with your job.
Occupational skills might include cooking, cleaning, or fixing things around the house. They also include skills such as driving or fixing your car, creating a grocery list and going shopping, and fixing your bike for a ride around your neighborhood.
Occupational skills also allow you to live a productive and happy life with a healthy balance between work and home life. You apply your special talents and skills to your career in a manner that works seamlessly. These are very important aspects of life that help you stay self-sufficient and independent.
8. Spiritual Life
It’s easy to get lost in the fast pace of life. With so many distractions around, it can be hard to focus on what is truly important. However, spiritual life is an important part of finding balance.
Your spiritual life helps foster your connection with nature and with other people who are also seeking that connection. It also encompasses inner peace, clarity, contentment and kindness towards others.
When you feel like you are at a crossroad in life, or you are struggling with something, your spiritual self can help guide you in the right direction. It also helps you connect with your highest self so you can become your truly authentic self.
You may associate your spiritual self with the concept of Zen, as simple way to calm the chaos in your life. As part of finding balance, it is important to learn how to manage the chaos in your life. You can do this through the many benefits of mindfulness, also.
9. Career
The next aspect of living a balanced life is career. It can be a tough aspect in a balanced life! As you climb the corporate ladder, it can be hard to find quiet time.
Have you ever felt like your work life is completely out of balance? You spend too much time at work and then feel drained by the time you come home, only to go back to work for another 8 hours. Most of us have felt this way at times. And it takes some persistent and focused work to break the habit!
Though it may seem impossible, there is a way for you to be more balanced in your life. You simply have to make it a priority to go home after work with a focus on creating an appropriate balance.
These are some simple ways to start balancing life better: don’t check emails, don’t check phone messages, don’t accept phone calls, track your time, establish boundaries, follow a to-do-list, set priorities, take deep breaths, limit social media.
Related Article: Avoid Career Burnout with these 6 Personal Growth Tips
Additionally, there are many career and business skills that can improve your personal life such as getting organized, learning to prioritize and delegate, and being flexible to improve both personal and professional experiences.
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10. Creativity
Many people view creativity as an unimportant part of life. It’s often thought of as a hobby, and not a necessity. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Creativity has tremendous positive effects on your brain, and is crucial for improving your mood and cognitive function. Creative hobbies such as knitting or crafting can improve dexterity, patience, and concentration.
It also enhances your problem-solving skills, which can help you in many areas of life such as work and relationships. Creativity can be as simple as journaling or collecting rocks. The purpose is to help you relax, have fun, think outside the box, and see things from a new perspective.
Research even shows that creative people are happier and have less stress than those who don’t express themselves creatively, and hobbies can even help prevent heart diseases. So find yourself a hobby and set times in your busy life to do it! Remember, balance is the priority.
11. Family
Family life is arguably the most important aspect of living a balanced life. It is an essential factor that helps create strong bonds, connections, and positive relationships among family members. And most importantly, it provides stability and love to your partner/spouse and children.
Spending quality time with family helps everyone learn to cope with challenges, develop confidence and a sense of security, develop family values, and much more.
It is important to prioritize family time because it gives you a chance to spend quality time with those close to you and spend time on non-work related activities. You may need to seriously consider the issues of boundaries and priorities that were mentioned under the career aspect.
Once you can find this balance in your life, it will be easier to achieve peace and happiness.
12. Community
Living a balanced life is all about making time for the things that matter. The next aspect of living a balanced life is community life. Finding a way to give back to your community, and be a part of the people and places that make up your community is a great way to find fulfillment and value in your life.
Many people find connections to their community life when they are out volunteering in their community. Volunteering helps you feel connected to your community because you are doing something for others, and you are also meeting many new people that you may not have met before. You are making a difference!
Community engagement can also include the whole family. Have you considered volunteering as a coach or team mom for your child’s little league team? Or supporting your local EMS department, especially during National EMS Week?
Or have you ever considered fostering pets in your home for the local animal shelter? Or participating in a food drive with the local church before the holidays? These are great activities that the whole family can do together!
And everyone will feel a great sense of accomplishment!
How to Live a Balanced Life
Balanced living is an awesome way of life that promotes joy, satisfaction, and meaningfulness. Living a balanced life means being present in the moment and utilizing your time for things that are important to you.
Now that you know the 12 important aspects of a balanced life, you will need to develop priorities and establish routines. But you don’t need to do this alone. You can involve your whole family. Teach everyone to live a balanced life by getting them involved in setting boundaries and sharing responsibilities.
Related Article: 21 Easy-Peasy Ways to Make Today a Great Day
Help your family focus on healthy habits that promote a healthy, happy family life. Start to make changes slowly and work through all the elements of a balanced life.
Reflect and evaluate how things are going every week. Make changes, as necessary and appropriate. It will take active participation from everyone in the family to make it work. And it won’t happen overnight.
Everyone needs to develop and maintain a positive mindset, too.
But it is also important to expect the unexpected and be flexible is shifting activities and/or mindsets. Because life is not linear — it does not go in one straight line. Life is a series of squiggling lines that intersect and unexpectedly cross over anything at any time.
Final Thoughts: A Balanced Life
There are many benefits to living a balanced life, such as feeling happier and calmer, being more productive and organized, feeling less stressed and overwhelmed, and feeling more connected. So it’s well worth the effort.
These are two additional articles that you may find helpful in your journey to develop a well-balanced life:
Don’t forget to take good care of yourself at all times while trying to find a balanced life! It’s essential to your overall wellbeing that you practice regular self care and self love habits!
Love to All! ~Susan
