When something doesn’t feel right with life, we can get led down many different rabbit holes searching for the cause.
Especially for someone who spends a lot of their day thinking, the allure of an idea that can bring us back to “normal” is strong. But you are unlikely to think yourself out of a problem that you thought your way into.
A simpler solution lies in zooming out and looking at your life as a whole to find out where you have gotten out of balance. Instead of focusing on “the problem” focus on your life as a whole and work to move back into balance.
Here are the dimensions, or scales, I think of as possible sources for imbalance.
Mental vs. Physical
How much of your day is spent in a mental or physically focused state? The answer likely depends on the type of work you do, but for most people modern life is deeply imbalanced towards the mental.
If you are out of balance on the mental side, you may find many of your problems go away when you focus time on physical pursuits, like lifting weights, hiking, or taking up a new sport.
Your body is likely a clear reflection of being in or out of balance in this dimension.
Social vs. Solo
How much of your day is spent with other people? Are you in an office by yourself most of the time? Or do you not have any alone time at all?
If you are on one end of the spectrum, find a way to get back to balance. Create some alone time for yourself without distractions. If you are by yourself a lot, find some very social situations, even going to a concert by yourself could completely change your mindset.
Spiritual vs. Material
How much of your is devoted to spiritual practices? Do you pray? Do you meditate? Do you appreciate beautiful art or watch the sunset?
This one is harder to explain, but if you live your life focused on purely material things, you will eventually feel deeply out of balance. This is different than physical vs. mental as some physical activities can be spiritual and many mental activities are materially focused.
You likely have a sense of what spirituality would mean to you, but a good compass is activities and moments when you feel alive and in harmony with the world. If you have no space in your life for those moments you will likely feel deeply out of balance.
Reason vs. Passion
How much of what you do is decided by thinking out the most logical action for you to take? How often do you make a gut call and run with your institution?
In today’s world, there are people very out of balance in both directions. Some people don’t know how to think and use their minds only to create rationalizations. Some people don’t know how to feel and are doing their best to impersonate of robots.
If you think that you’re always being rational, make a conscious effort to break that habit. Take some greater chances. Make a quick gut decision. Say yes to an opportunity you feel uncertain about. Give passion a chance.
Action vs. Abstraction
How much of your time is spent focused on abstractions? Are you doing things? Or are you writing, thinking, dreaming, talking?
This is similar to the mental vs. physical, as abstraction is a mental activity, but it’s worth considering separately as you can be a man of action who spends most of his days in a mental domain.
An example of being heavily on the abstract side of a physical domain might be a safety or HR manager at a job sight.
Our educational system is very focused on abstractions, especially at the highest levels. But people who live lives of abstraction lose touch with reality and often go crazy.
Instead of drinking coffee and talking about ideas, politics, and philosophy, go to a kickboxing class and get hit in the face. Or start a side hustle online. Do something that is about action and not ideas.
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