Right now I am on the beach in the Dominican Republic and was just reflecting on life and being in a state of gratitude. I am here with my family, my friends and my team. But while I was going for a little stroll along the beach I saw one of those rock formations, where people balance rocks on top of each other. They’re called a cairn and I am sure you have all seen them.
Well, in this one spot on the beach there were about six or so of these things. It was pretty windy and they were getting splashed by the water but they stood firm. There are plenty of people walking by them and kids touching them, but none of them had been knocked over. I was in awe about how these things were standing when there was no glue or cement. If you try to stack just one or two rocks, they aren’t as strong as when you use a number of rocks. They withstand the elements and the only way they collapse naturally is when one of the rocks starts to weather, becomes weak, breaks up and then the entire structure collapses. I was just thinking about how this related to my life and how it applies to every other persons life too. If you see your life as a cairn and each rock representing a different element of your life such as career, work, health, emotions, relationships, family, money, hobbies, social etc., then we know that when we have good health and balance in all those areas, our cairn will be strong and our entire world (structure) will stand strong. The glue is the combination of all the rocks holding each other up. But if we neglect one or more area(s) in our life, then what happens? Well that area (rock) begins to weather, becomes weak and starts to break-up.
Make sure your cairn stays strong by finding balance in ALL areas of your life. Here are a number of tips for you to keep your cairn strong and the entire structure being able to withstand all of life’s challenges.
Which areas do you spend the majority of your time in - Be honest what are the top three areas that you spend all your time? Is it work and career? Is it with your family? Is it obsessing about fitness and your body? Where?
Which areas do you neglect - Again it is time to get honest with yourself. What areas do you think you neglect? It is your relationship with your friends? Your partner? Your kids? Are you neglecting your mental / spiritual / emotional health? Perhaps your physical health?
What is causing you to neglect those areas – Why do you think you are neglecting these areas? Here we can’t blame other people, we need to look at ourselves. Is it because you’re over committed, you’re trying to make it all work out? What is it?
What will your life look like if you continue to neglect those areas - Write down what will happen if one of those areas in your life collapsed. What if your partner left you? What if your relationship with your kids went beyond repair? What if your health suffered and stop you from working? What if stress caused you not to be able to work in your current position? how devastating would that be? Is it worth it to carry on neglecting those areas?
Map out the areas you need to make change in - Build yourself a plan as to how you can find balance in ALL areas of your life every day, every week! What do you need to do less of and where do you need to do more? Make a calendar so it becomes visual for you, so you can easily see the areas you neglect and where you focus too much on.
Get help if need be - Don’t be scared to reach out to those people who can help you. We don’t know everything and we can’t do everything by ourselves. Don’t let lack of knowledge be an excuse. get help!
Take action - We can talk about it all day, we can plan all we want but the only thing that is going to help is by taking action. We need to take action every single day, consistently until we create a new hit of balance. So go out there and build yourself a strong cairn that can withstand all the elements. XO Hayley