Top Ten Tips For A Balanced Lifestyle

When running a business, we all know things can get a little, or a lot, crazy from time to time. But it’s essential to your success, and your life, that you maintain a balanced lifestyle, because more balance means it’s less likely you’ll tip over that edge.

Here are my top ten tips for introducing and maintaining a balanced lifestyle:

1) Ensure you get a good night’s sleep. Make this a priority and give thought to how you will attain it. At bedtime, put your mobile phone aside and start the process of unwinding. Go through a short meditative sequence or just sit quietly and spend time just boxing away your thoughts or reading.

2) Make sure you’re hydrated all the time. This is very easy to achieve as all it takes is small amounts of water, every 30-60 minutes, depending on what activity you’re doing. If you’re desk-based, having a tall glass full of water on your desk is good, but don’t keep a bottle by your desk as running out of water is an excellent opportunity to get up and take a short walk to the water cooler to refill your glass.

3) Regulate your caffeine and alcohol. Both are system disruptors, and both taken in high quantities will throw you out of balance. If you do drink caffeinated drinks, I recommend sticking to one or two cups per day maximum, and try and avoid caffeine after lunchtime. Alcohol disturbs all the processes in the body from digestion to sleep patterns, and slows down the processes in the brain and the function of the central nervous system.

4) Check your vitamin D3 levels. Many of us are deficient in vitamin D3, although we might not know it. Common symptoms of deficiency include bone pain, muscle weakness, high blood pressure and depression.

5) Eat regularly. Eating small amounts regularly, providing it’s the right type of food, can have a positive effect on how you feel. The brain has a very high glucose requirement; if you want to think clearly then you need to ensure your brain is getting enough fuel. The right balance of vitamins and minerals are essential for optimum health.

6) Practice mindfulness – it can be a game changer. Few people I know practice mindfulness and still have problems attaining balance in their lives. It won’t remove your problems, stressors or life challenges, but it can be a powerful tool to help you manage these things

7) Exercise regularly. Find something you enjoy, and if necessary, seek the help of an exercise professional. We need to move in order to thrive.

8) Surround yourself with positive people who prioritise their health and happiness, and enjoy the positive benefits this will have on you. Encourage each other to be your best selves

9) Remove monkey-mind distractions from your life. Monkey-mind is a Buddhist expression which refers to the incessant chatter that goes on in our heads. We are bombarded with messages through advertising, mobile devices, email, etc. If we want to be able to filter out the junk from the important stuff, we need to minimise the monkey-mind activity.

10) Make sure everything you do is an honest reflection of your authentic self. This is the most important tip of all. If you can crack this, then you’ll find everything else much simpler. Search within yourself to make sure what you do and what you stand for is reflected in the choices you’ve made in your life; this includes your job, your partner, where you live, and the clubs and associations you represent.