When it comes to acceleration or increased speed, balance is paramount, a must even. In this case I mean hitting more milestones in less time. Sounds good, right? Everyone wants to get more done in less time. But if you don't take a balanced approach you'll find that you've neglected some area of your life and it will bite you right in butt, totally stalling your progress in other areas.
There are plenty of examples in the physics world of how acceleration requires balance. An easy one to apply here is balancing your tires. If you have ever had an out of balance tire you'll know that at slow speeds it's unnoticeable. But, as you accelerate you start feel a shaking in the steering wheel and maybe hear a wobble or thumping sound. Your tires have to be in balance to accelerate smoothly, the faster you want to go the more accurately they have to be balanced.
This is a concept that has caught me multiple times and like any other lesson learned the hard way, it doesn't become obvious until you can't ignore it any more. A recent example for me was in the area of my physical fitness. This is an important category for me because I see it as the foundation for everything else that I am able to do. I set a goal to row 100,000 meters in a month on our rowing machine. By focusing so heavily on the meters I neglected my strength training and spent all my (workout) time on the rower. I completed 2 months of 100,000 meters and then my legs were so out of balance I had severe low back pain and wasn't able to even row for 5 minutes! This completely derailed my 100,000 meter goal. I had to spend the next 2 months focusing on strengthening my opposing muscles and stretching to regain my flexibility. Had I taken a more balanced approach and incorporated more strength training to balance the muscles of my legs I would not have been in so much pain and could have continued my 100,000 meter months.
In order to find balance you have to identify all the areas of your life that you play a role in. Where do you show up for yourself and others? And what is required or expected of you? We all have a job, so that is an easy one. If you have anyone in your life that you care about, friends, family, husband/wife and kids that's an easy two (or more). How about your physical fitness, your health, your happiness? What about a hobby or sport you like to do? You can see how these add up really fast. Now we've all been there, focusing on one thing, you're crushing it and then, bam! Some area of your life that was easy and quiet erupts into an urgent focus grabbing monster that takes you out of your zone. This will happen in life, of course, but a lot of times we do it to ourselves by not balancing.
Once you know where you have to show up, think about why each is important to you and what are the key things you need to do be happy in that area of your life. It definitely helps to write these down and review them frequently.
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