When you first read the phrase "A Well Balanced Life", technically; your conscious thought process might tend to revolve around various expressions used to determine it such as a 'work - life balance', or a 'personal life - professional life balance'...they sound familiar! don't they?

Well that doesn't work for me that way and I'm adamantly against the usage of such expressions to determine and configure my life.

You might be wondering: if the aforesaid expressions are not the way to determine a well balanced life, then what are the determinants? You'll find out! Keep reading...

To be honest with you; I used to be a person who habitually drew such boundaries all the time, by placing different aspects of my life into air tight compartments. There were times when I used to overly pour in all my time in a certain area; call it 'work' for instance. Or being extremely sad at times, given the fact that my personal life was not moving smoothly. A perfect imbalance it was.

During this phase; I tried to isolate myself because I felt overanxious and utterly disappointed about the way things were working. Little did I understand that life doesn't work in such a mechanical fashion. And you cannot, of course, overlook the points of convergence.

Nonetheless, I was keen that these disturbances could be significantly addressed but I didn't understand 'how'. For a long time, I believed that my experiences at that point were highly influenced by some external element - family, friends, co-workers - you name it!

It was only when I heard these wise words of Sadhguru, I experienced a drastic shift in my outlook towards life: when he said "The events around you may not be determined by you, but your experience of life on this planet is 100% determined by you."

However, It is not an easy road to transition from a conditioned way of life where you are programmed to think in a certain way; towards a whole new approach.Especially; given the circumstances in which we are bombarded by tens and hundreds of articles, videos, talks on 'how you should be dealing with life and so on'.

Once again, this confusion was addressed by Sadhguru when he said that - "just because everyone is believing in something that doesn't become normal". These were the words which instilled a fresh perspective in me. With a new perspective came a new way of life, and with consistent efforts I feel that things are at place today.

Well! without any further prolongation, let's just dive in and explore the 8 ways to strike this balance and also gain some fresh perspective; that would definitely leave some impact!

1. Accept your biological clock:

There is no denial to the fact that mornings bring in freshness and added health benefits into our lives. And there is no substitute to the advantages gained from a nutritious breakfast and a healthy morning exercise. To put it in the words of Benjamin Franklin - "Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise".

In contrast; as a matter of fact there are millions of people out there, working late nights or on night shifts which often extend till mornings. It is difficult to follow such a routine which by the way many sources suggest as being the foundation to lead a well balanced life. Well! I do not disagree but I believe leading a certain way of life becomes inevitable sometimes.

Regardless of what you to do, where you are or the time you go to bed, it is important that you essentially give your body the rest it needs. This includes a good sleep for at least 6-8 hrs.

Remember, your quality of sleep influences your next day's performance significantly. And also start getting into the habit of staying at ease regardless of any given situation that you are dealing with.

At this juncture, It is essential to embrace and accept the current configuration of your biological clock. I ask you to take the position of an 'observer' and analyze the workings of your body.

Ask yourself these two questions:

a) Is there a possibility for me to work in alignment with the natural cycle of life i.e., rising early and going to bed early (because the natural way is the best way always) ?

b) Were my actions so far deliberately performed or was it the outcome of inevitability? - you know what am talking about!

Follow the natural course and think to work on this situation even if there is slightest possibility. And avoid any temptation of becoming overwhelmingly harsh on yourself (in case you have gone off-track). If you have already synced into the rhythm or have decided to do it - that's fantastic!!!

2. Transition smoothly and slowly:

We all at one point or the other take a leap forward to lead the life as envisioned.Despite the consistent efforts, a sense of dissatisfaction follows us everywhere. Sometimes we tend to loose the consistency or have the dearth of motivation to continue. Or it could just be about how tiring and boring the journey becomes.

We succumb to our "evil - twin" saying 'you haven't made any progress at all'. If you are a person who thinks this way, then it's okay. I don't come from a place of judgement either because I have been there at one point.

While moving forward from one point to another, learn to honor the occurrence of all those ebbs and falls. Because that's the very nature of 'transitioning'.Instead take the lessons learnt in the process seriously. It is important to embrace the fact that rushing into something is only going to make you crash.

Learn to break daunting tasks into small and workable steps to make the transition smooth. Most importantly, take it at your own pace.

Let us consider an example here - if you are targeting to wake up early in the morning at around 6 am, while you are habituated to wake up at 10 am. In this case you can start preponing the time by 30 mins per say. Go to bed 30 mins early than the usual time and wake up 30 mins earlier.

If something has worked for somebody that need not necessarily work for you. Every 'body' is different in the nature of it's workings. Ultimately your body listens to you, so make amends and alters accordingly, and pick what's best for you! We all heard the line - "slow and steady always wins the race".

This reminds me of a thought - provoking cartoon which I once found on Pinterest (right down below):

3. Healthy foods + Physical activity:

Healthy foods means healthy poops, it's that simple. It's nothing to shy away from. Ayurveda mentions the significance of a biological cycle and the need to manage it efficiently. It is also a way to determine your overall health condition.

My health status has significantly improved since I have adopted a plant-based (vegan) lifestyle. Although I have first adopted this lifestyle on ethical grounds, the health benefits I have witnessed there forth were immense. My diet is fuelled by healthy & nourishing plant based foods such as whole grains, millets, fruits, dry fruits, leafy vegetables & vegetables.

Healthy food combined with physical activity is the best way to enrich your life profoundly. The workout regimen I swear by is Yoga. Yoga not just impacts your physical health but also has a significant influence on your mental health status.

Regardless, of which workout regimen you abide by - it is highly important to give your body some physical activity in order to keep it charged.

4. Focus on your inner well being:

The path towards a great change starts from the inside. I strongly believe that if we gain control over what's happening within us (inside), we gain control over what's happening outside us.

We are often worried about things we actually do not have any influence on our behalf; for instance, a salary bonus. The focus is poured into worrying about something that is not happening the way we want it.

Instead the focus could be shifted inwards, understand and interpret the happenings within yourself. Focus on improving your productivity, skill set or efficiency. Make your efficiency visible through your actions & work but not merely by your words or an unnecessary argument.

Meditation helps one gain control over the inner self. Don't worry! I'm not going to start lecturing about it. Most of the times, even if I don't get the time to meditate I practice mindfulness. Most of our actions at one level or the other are unconsciously performed as it's said- 'mind absent body present'.

Mindfulness helps me in performing my actions at a conscious level, by focusing on the things at hand. So, I could say even if I do not meditate, I'm mindful most of the time. This brings me to the next essential step...

5. Create your plan of action:

One of the best ways to interpret life is in terms of 'time'.Life in it it's crude form is the time we have got on this planet. And now it is up to us to make the most out of it and leave the impact. As Sadhguru hilariously explains - "the problem arises when we start thinking that we are immortal and are going to live here forever".

The foundation for effectively managing your time amongst various aspects of life - family, work, hobbies, entertainment and so on, is by having an action plan.

An effective action plan is about breaking daunting tasks into workable and manageable steps. Procrastination is only going to result in stress and tension. Having an action plan gives you the boost to finish things right off with clarity.

A perfect action plan is not about having a long list of action items or to-do's, it is how well you prioritize amongst the set to-do's. Most people; I have observed, misunderstand productivity as being super busy. We often hear such people saying 'NO' to everything - "You know I'm a very busy person". After a certain period of time, they tend to start complaining - "I have got everything but why am I not happy". Don't wait until that point when you can effectively balance things today itself.

Caution: Stop over-burdening yourself, have an action plan that's practically workable.Getting into this habit is also going to earn you some extra time which you could spend on things that you love - family, friends, hobbies etc.

Read our detailed article on this topic: https://www.theperspectivematrix.com/the-blog/do-you-have-a-daily-action-plan

6.Healthy relationships:

Relationships bring in a sense of joy and add meaning to our lives. By relationships I mean, relationship with parents,pets, relatives, colleagues,partner etc.

For quite sometime I held on to people who used to drain my energies but never did I have the guts to purge them out of my life. It was during this time, I heard these words of Sadia Badiei @ Pick Up limes- "Embrace the impermanence of relationships and honor that it did serve you at one point in life but not anymore".

I learnt to purge unhealthy relationships from my life so that I could make time and space for those I love. Now, I get more time for my parents, pets and plants. A relationship has to be the one that nurtures you, if it is in any sense bringing in distress and negativity; then, may be it's time for you to reconsider.

Most importantly, this practice gave me more time for myself - the "Me time" as it's called. Remember, there is no better relationship than the one you cultivate with your inner self. In contrast, we tend we give it the least importance most of the time.

7. De - Clutter:

I follow a minimalist lifestyle. Minimalism does not need to be complicated, which most people misunderstand as giving up on everything and living out of two or three pairs of clothes. Absolutely not!

We often hold on to a lot of things for months, in fact for years. And we keep adding stuff every now and then, irrespective of the amount of clutter we were already holding back. We often do not even realize it.

Minimalism in simple terms is about getting rid of things that we do not need anymore or those that do not spark joy. These things could be material, social, or psychological. Best described by Sadia Badiei @ Pick Up Limes as - "Minimalism is not about deprivation, it's about liberation".

During this process, I have also learnt how great it is to de-clutter the mind too. Mind being the most messed up place. This process helped me gain a sense of organization which stood as a pillar for balancing various aspects of my life. The reason being simple and that is - I've got less things to worry about.

8. Focus on the quality:

It has become a well established fact today that the quality of life depends on something in an 'economic-sense'. But it need not necessarily be so. Because at the end, life condenses to only one aspect - are we happy or unhappy. This happiness of yours should not, in a narrow sense, be sought from materialistic stuff. This is the first and the best lesson I have learnt through my journey with minimalism.

Am I saying, should you stop making money? - Absolutely not! All I'm saying is stop measuring the quality of your life by the number of dollars you earn. More dollars earned the better the life gets, but does this mean you wait until you get there. Enjoy the process, and have gratitude towards what your life is teaching you through this journey. Thus, the journey becomes a fulfilling experience. Use this experience to your own advantage.

Earlier, I mentioned that I'm adamantly against the usage of expressions such as a "work-life balance" or a "personal life-professional life balance". I'll tell you why, and how it is related to creating a well-balanced life.

I would like to narrate an incident from sometime back: I once met a couple who are our distant relatives. When I was at their place! I observed my cousin working seriously on his computer. His wife sat next to him for a little while and was observing his work. Yes! She is a housewife, but she is also an educated woman. So, she expressed her opinion that he could rethink in a certain area, probably it needs some editing. That's it! my cousin yelled at her saying: "stop interfering in my work life". After a while, he expressed his apologies saying "Everything I do is for us and such that our personal life would be happy".

These two statements, be it because of the typical Indian patriarchal mindset (not generalizing) or what-so-ever has deliberately separated his life into two different zones. Although every one might not be very harsh, but a lot of people experience stress and tension as they fail to strike this balance.

At this juncture, I would ask you - didn't you ever come back home and work on your office assignments? Didn't you ever seek perspective from your partner, parents or friends regarding something related to your job? Should we here consider that your work life has intruded your personal life? No right! And those are the areas I mentioned as the "points of convergence" and they cannot be overlooked at all. By reacting this way to your loved ones, you are creating an imbalance in your life but not any balance.

Balance - as we have understood, is effectively managing time amongst various aspects. We tend to call it - "work - life balance", "personal life - professional life balance"and so on. Here, understand that you are merely striking a balance between two different aspects of your life - that's all! That is not the balance we are talking about.

If you have read this far, you must have understood by now; all the 8 ways suggested are faced towards you and your inner self. Remember the question we pondered upon earlier - What are the determinants to lead a well balanced life? There is only one determinant and that is 'YOU'.

To deconstruct this concept of "YOU", various scholars, spiritual leaders have classified this "YOU" into segments like - mind, body and soul (in a general sense). This in a way, improves the understanding of yourself. But, all of these together constitute to "YOU" again. To create a well balanced life, look within yourself and learn to tackle those segments of "YOU". That's when you will correctly respond to things working beyond your control. And that's the balance we are talking about.

It is important that you start considering - family, pets, partner, hobbies, work etc; as those aspects that are important & essential. But stop compartmentalizing them - seriously stop! Because there is no such thing, they are merely different time-bound aspects of life. These aspects surely have an impact on you - either negative or positive.

For instance, your work might influence your mind, your partner might impact you at a deeper level - 'soul' as it's called, your unhealthy eating habits might influence your body. But, these aspects are highly fluid. It means, there is a high likelihood of their impermanence. Your career might not be stuck with this job alone, your relationship with some person might run smoothly today or it might not someday.

But throughout this journey of life, there is one stable factor and that is "YOU"- from cradle to grave. Once, you start placing yourself into the hands of some external element - For instance, your partner (especially women), your boss, parents or who-so-ever. I would say you are turning out to be a puppet. Which most of us do without even realizing it. With some expectation held in the future hypothetically - like a good impression in front of your boss, better relationship with your partner & so on. But such outlook is not sustainable. If you spend your life pleasing everyone, when will you lead a life at all; forget about a balance or quality. Your personality should be the one that gravitates people towards you.

You are the leader and the manager of your life and it's balance. If you gain control over the workings of your body, better things will reflect back to you. Ultimately, life is all about you and how you deal with it. If you learn to deal with yourself, the rest would follow.

In the process, you might breakdown, feel hopeless. Sometimes even when you think everything is moving smoothly, you might have to face the unexpected. Learn to embrace the change, and do not think that all the balance you have thrived for so far, has shattered. Because, there is never a state of perfect balance at life.

For our different experiences at life, the emotions that follow are merely our reactions. Hence, if you learn how to act properly with the most important entity - which is you, you master how to react; eventually reaching a state of contentment. And that is what I call as "a well balanced life".