This post was originally published on Unsettle.org
The reason successful people seem to be successful in all areas of their lives is the same reason vehicles don't run if there's a part missing in the engine. It's because one area of their lives don't operate without all the other areas. It's one cohesive unit.
Like a car leaking oil, if one area of your life is "leaking," the other areas don't run as efficiently or successfully.
Put more simply: Fulfillment in one area of our lives can't happen in spite of unhappiness in another.
Sure, a car with an oil leak might get you to your destination but you run the risk of the engine seizing up. The oil leak has a negative effect on the other functions of the vehicle. The oil drips out, leaving less to spread to the rest of the parts under the hood. Friction heats the car and it could stop running at any time.
In other words, you arrive at your desired destination at the expense of something else.
You can hate your job and be in peak physical shape outwardly, but underneath that muscle your body isn't actually healthy. Bodies react to stress no matter where it comes from. That stress, and the body's reaction to it, damages your heart, liver, and brain.
When you start to pay more attention to this, you notice it happens in other areas of your life, too:
•No matter how much you love the work you do, it's difficult to be productive when you haven't had much sleep.
•When you're physically unhealthy, it plays a toll on your relationship with your spouse or your friends.
•When you wake up late and rush out the door, it affects your entire day.
The different areas of your life are like cogs in a machine. Like an engine, if one area isn't working properly, it affects the performance of the entire vehicle.
Last year, I experienced this. In this instance, my relationship was the oil leak.
My husband, Jason, and I tied the knot on July 19, 2014, and shortly after I began to build my business, Unsettle.
I found myself working around the clock to start Unsettle with a bang. Jason was supportive. He cheered me on as I decided not to renew my contract at my job in HR to pursue blogging. He even supported me through the decision to buy a one-way ticket to Europe, leaving him with our dogs and our house for 6-10 weeks.
As I paid less and less attention to the health of my relationship in favor of pouring my heart and soul into Unsettle, I put my new marriage in a precarious position.
When my relationship started to fray at the seams, my business did too. I stalled out, procrastinated, and had difficulty focusing. I wasn't sleeping or eating well and both of these things made it more and more difficult to focus on the things I needed to do before Unsettle's launch.
I was less healthy, less happy, and less productive than ever before.
The oil leak was throwing my entire life off track.
Balance is Never Truly Achieved...
We like to strive for balance.
In my opinion, balance is one of the most overused words of the last couple decades, because as the lines blur between work and life, we feel the impact on the weaker areas in our lives.
Chasing balance becomes a fool's errand because the elusive balance is never truly achieved.
As primitive beings, we focus our energy on the areas of our lives that include the most pressing issues. There will always be one area of our life that requires more attention than the others.
But if You Neglect One Area of Your Life, Your Entire Life Suffers
Including that one area that requires more attention.
I'm certainly not proposing you strive for a perfect balance. That's impossible.
But we would all benefit from being sensitive and attentive to all areas of our lives -- our relationships, our physical, emotional, and financial health, and our careers.
When we're healthy in every area of our lives, victory will be that much sweeter.
About Sarah: I used to have to ask for time off. Now I can travel whenever I want and work from anywhere with Wifi. You can do the same: Find your perfect lifestyle business idea with her free course so you can stop settling and start building your dream.