DISTINCTIONS: Balance vs. Balancing

A lot of people talk about their desire to be in balance. But what is balance? How do you know when you're "there"?  What I've found is most people confuse being in balance with the act of balancing. Balancing requires a conscious awareness, an efforting; it takes energy. Balancing is about action and comes from your head. A subtle feature of balancing is that it is about the future -- believing that somehow things will be better "when you are in balance".

Being in balance is unconscious. It's something you feel in your body, an ease and a sense of strength with reserves of energy. Instead of working at it, balance includes automatic course corrections and even the permission to be out of balance for a while -- without fretting about it -- if that serves you.  To be in balance requires insight and clarity about who you are and about what matters most to you.

Coaching Point: Most people who are in balance never talk about it, it's just a part of who they are.

(Note:  This is another gem from Steve Straus' 3-Minute Coaches Contribution e-letter.  To get on his list, send an email to<mailto:majordomo@StrausUSA.com> and in the body of your email include the text subscribe 3-minute-l youremailaddress (that's an "el" not a "one" )