Striking a Work-Life Balance

Much has been written about finding a harmonious balance between work and life, and this article does not intend to discredit any of it. It is essential to strike a balance between the professional and personal. True success is multidimensional, and if you focus exclusively on work, your personal life suffers, and vice versa. Limiting your perspective of success to the two dimensions of work and personal life can lead to a lack of balance between professional and personal success. To separate life and work into disparate entities misses the point of true success.

*The Success Elements*

The elements of success are the building blocks of professional and personal life. The Success Elementsô principle is founded on the four elements of Health, Wealth, Wisdom, and Relationships. By achieving balance in all of the Success Elementsô, you can be assured that your success will transcend both your work life and personal life.

*Applying the Success Elements*

Applying the Success Elements in your personal life is easy to see. If you focus on Wealth too heavily, your family life will suffer. If you neglect your Health, all other areas of life will suffer. Even focusing on relationships too much, which on the surface seems laudable, can disrupt everything else.

So now that we have established that the Success Element applies to your personal life, what about business?

*Health*

Good Health benefits more than your personal life. In business, success in Health will lead to fewer sick days, less burnout, increased focus, greater profitability, and more energy. Health can also lead to a longer and more fruitful career.

*Wealth*

This has the most obvious application in professional life and needs little explanation. As long as you realize that exclusive focus on any one Success Elementô can be disastrous, pursuing Wealth is good. Pursuing Wealth, though, does not imply that money is everything. Wealth is about complementing the pursuit of excellence in the other Success Elementsô.

*Wisdom*

The Wisdom element can have a tremendous impact on your business life. The modern economy rewards innovation and flexibility, and Wisdom is about the continuous pursuit of knowledge and insight. You should seek to constantly expand the horizon of your skill sets, as this will assist you in reaching your professional dreams.

*Relationships*

At first glance, many think that Relationships only applies to friends and family. However, relationships also apply to your supervisor, subordinates, colleagues, mentors, customers, and community. It is essential for business success to develop strong relationships with everyone in your professional circle. Seek to add value to everyone in your network.

And by all means, do not forget to build a network!

The unique aspect of the Success Elements is that they transcend the individual and can be applied corporately. A company cannot afford to neglect any of the Success Elementsô. Each element has a place in the business world, and balance among the Success Elementsô is just as essential for companies as it is for individuals.

So ask yourself, is there balance in your life in all areas of your life?

Greg Langston is the President of The Langston Group, which offers a comprehensive 100-day Leadership and Success system called the Integrated Helix Systemô. The Integrated Helix Systemô helps individuals discover their unique strengths (Distinct Natural Abilitiesô), core values, and lifetime goals, all with a focus on maximizing potential and work-life balance. The Langston Group’s Integrated Helix Systemô is offered to executives, professionals, and students. The Langston Group also offers the Wisdom Project, where you can read their collection of the best of the web, updated daily. You can find articles on Health, Wealth, Wisdom, and Relationships – plus a host of articles on technology, interviews with top CEO’s, and the most thought-provoking, leading-edge ideas around.

Langston began his career in the international business arena almost 30 years ago; he had two objectives:

1) Become a successful global leader and

2) Maximize the potential of all those he came into contact with.

While running operations for over $1.2 billion and 8,000 employees, he learned that these two goals often worked against each other without a process and technology. He created B to provide Life, Personal, and Business coaches with a proven roadmap that will help their clients Discover, Determine, and Direct their futures while driving an excellent return on investment (ROI).