Photo by Anthony Intraversato on Unsplash
Are you focusing on what is really important to you? Do you feel pretty good about how your life is going? Are you focusing on the right things, giving proper attention to what’s important versus what’s urgent? Do you sense that your life is balanced?
Life Feels Like Juggling
It’s easy to get off course here. If you’re like most of us, life feels like juggling, and we’re never sure if we can keep all the balls in the air! One CEO said it this way: “Life is all about juggling balls. The key is to know the difference between the rubber balls and the crystal balls. The rubber balls will bounce; the crystal balls will break.” Rubber balls bounce right back up and you can bring them back into your act. But those made of crystal are fragile, breakable, precious. Drop them and there’s no good outcome. The key is to know (and accept) which balls are rubber and which are crystal.
What Are Your Crystal Balls?
It’s always a good thing when we take the time to really weigh in on the results of our life choices. Yearend and the start of the new year are some of those times. We’re talking about priorities and values. Some things are less important than others; they can fall through the cracks, land on the ground, and you lose nothing.
But the choices that are crystal must be gently handled, given priority. Hopefully, they include your family, close friends, and other intimate relationships. Certainly you can include your health and wellness—mental, emotional, physical, spiritual. And of course your work is critical in many ways, for your own support, your fulfilment, and also your contribution to society.
That’s a lot to juggle right there, but with the proper focus, you will be able to determine the rubber from the crystal and achieve a balance to your life.
Action Step
Determine what are the rubber balls in your life that will bounce back, and what are the crystal balls, that if you let go will crash and break and can’t be retrieved. That’s going to be a life changer. Then live your life intentionally, bringing balance into those important areas of life so that you’re really truly focusing on the right crystal balls.
So what are the crystal balls in your life? For me it is faith, fitness, family, friends, finances, firm (work/professional) and fun (recreation). I’ve sought to take these in this order and show snapshots of my life that reflect these priorities. I once spoke to a two large business conventions in Russia and talked to these 20,000 leaders about how to work on life balance and gave them this exercise. I used this video of pictures to show them how I did this exercise myself.
Take pictures or find some that best describe what is most important to you. Then, think about these areas: set long term goals and then weekly proactively build activities and build them into your schedule.
Now develop your own pictures of those things important to you – your crystal balls.
We are indebted to Dr. Ron Jenson, who selflessly allowed us to condense two of his blog articles, “The Secret to Work-Life Balance” and “How to Live According to What is Most Important to You” into this one. Visit his blogsite, www.ronjenson.comfor more wisdom on “How to make a life, not just a living.”
Dr. Ron Jenson is a speaker, author, and executive leadership coach. He is co-founder and chairman emeritus of Future Achievement International, which has been championing character cultures in over 50 countries, with a focus on corporate and professional America. He has authored 24 books, including the popular Make a Life, Not Just a Living (retitled Achieving Authentic Success), has spoken in hundreds of conventions and leadership events internationally and has coached many senior level executives and professionals, focusing on personal leadership effectiveness (self-government) – convinced that one’s leadership of others is greatly dependent on his ability to lead (govern) himself.
