Are You in Balance?
by Laurel Donnellan, Chief Possibilities Officer, Passion into Practice Inc.
Does your current work contribute to your health in a positive or negative way?
Often, the answer to this question can help you understand whether or not you are on the path to your dream work. Sometimes, people find their way to finding a new career path because health problems have forced them to consider new ways of working. Some have repetitive movement ailments, such as joint problems or carpal tunnel syndrome. Many have stress related problems; sometimes toxins in the work place have created illness. In an ideal situation, we might hear our body's distress signals before a health crisis develops.
Reaching your career potential will necessitate treating your instrument-your mind and body-with care and compassion.
An important way to attend to your health would be to pay close attention to the messages your body and mind are sending you. These clues can be positive as well as negative. Noticing the activities and habits that bring a sense of well-being is as important as noticing when they cause discomfort or distress. Also, it is crucial to be on the lookout for avoidance behaviors: substance abuse, internet or television addictions, or overeating are a few examples of how we block out our body's distress signals.
Caring for your health could be categorized in the following way:
- Physical - Take care of your body
- Intellectual - Exercise your mind
- Spiritual - Nurture your spirit
- Emotional - Tune in to your feelings
These physical, intellectual, spiritual and emotional parts of your being need to be kept in holistic balance. Perfect balance between the four aspects is impossible, but noticing which part of you needs extra care is possible. Your task for the future is to become a better listener: our bodies are intelligent teachers.
You can learn from your own health patterns and make plans to create more holistic balance in your life.
Laurel Donnellan is the Chief Possibilities Officer and founder of Passion into Practice. Passion into Practice provides one-on-one guided experiences, group workshops, professional coaching certifications and organizational consulting. Her vision is to help millions of people find passions and do remarkable work. She recently completed a book called Passion into Practice: The Path to Remarkable Work.
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