“Life balance is a myth, and the pursuit of it is causing us more stress than the craving for balance itself. If you manage to get balanced, it’s only temporary. Success throws things out of whack. Just when you get it balanced, circumstances or a great idea turns everything around. You can never get it right. Balance: the losing battle.”
This book might seem like a surprising recommendation, seeing as I call myself a Balance Expert and balance is an essential part of everything I do.
In fact, I agree with LaPorte about balance as she describes it, but our definitions set us apart. For me, balance is a dynamic process, not something you attain like a state of mind. This is why one of my slogans is ?Balance in Action.? Balance as I teach it doesn’t depend on the circumstances of your life; it’s about your approach, the way you decide to work with everything that’s out of your control.
Finding balance does not mean sitting in a dark room with candle and music doing “OMMMMM”. Balance does not mean being happy and stress-free all the time.
True Balance is accepting it all as part of life: the stress and the relaxation, anger and compassion, joy and fear. True Balance means that when a difficult situation arises (as it inevitably will ? trying to change this fact is the ?pursuit? LaPorte decries), you see it, accept it, and use your toolkit to transform it to something that’s not so bad, something that’s not the end of your life. It’s not about avoiding or suppressing fear or anger or doubt, but about seeing it for what it is and moving on in the best way possible, without getting stuck.
Here are more quotes from the book:
Being well-rounded is highly over-rated. When you focus on developing your true strengths you enter your mastery zone.
Screw your principles, well, some of them. (They might be holding you back.)
You’re an artist, and that’s that. When we’re giving our best, we’re being artistic. When you’re bringing your whole self to the party, you’re making poetry happen ? and you do it all the time, naturally.
Danielle LaPorte, a serious Fire Starter, wrote an excellent book that walks you through everything you need to do in order to live life to the fullest, from defining your vision and managing fear and failure to standing in your full power while being grateful and giving back.
LaPorte speaks my language. If you love my stuff you’d love hers.
Go and get this book! You’ll be inspired and empowered right away.