Finding balance in life is a challenging task. Considering the alarming news about the number of burn-outs and stress related problems, it seems like it is a wide-spread issue. The fact that a lot of people are struggling with finding a good balance in their lives makes me wonder what you can do about it.
The number of publications, books and blog posts about this issue is staggering. The number of different types of advice rank up to the same height. All in all, there is one main cause for stress related problems. In my opinion people commit theirselves way to much. People barely can cope with the issues that come up everyday. Most people take on everything. Just a little bit more won’t do harm will it?
The fact that you commit yourself too much makes that everyday clutter fills your day every day. In the daily turmoil it is hard to think about why your are doing it all for in the end. Occupied by the short term you loose sight on the long term. The long term being: your physical health and your life goals. Yes, I believe that you do not only do harm to yourself physically (e.g. heart related problems). You also fail to ensure you are on the right track in your life.
How to solve this? In my opinion it is quite simple: JUST SAY NO! Say no to all the things that only suck the life out of you. A lot of people are afraid to say no when somebody ask them help or a favour. In fact, what do you think is better: doing a random job on fifty things or doing a really superb job on twenty things. A nice consequence is that in the end you get to do more of what you really like. Value that.
PS: Don’t mistake saying NO with letting good stuff pass by. In order to grow you need to take on new challenging projects. There is always a trade-off between pay-off and risk. In that way you really have to be YES-man.
Bottom line: say NO when it sucks the life out of you.
