The buddha once quoted that life is all about balance.
Growing up, I used to have an all or nothing mentality that created a perfectionism that everything needed to be faultless. I started to see things as one extreme or the other, either you succeed or fail, that there is no middle ground. In my teen years, I was fascinated by self-help teachers such as Brian Tracy, Zig Zig Ziglar, and Stephen Covey. Their ethos was all about winners and losers, then naturally as all male adolescent go through a phase of bodybuilding, and we are introduced the greatest nutjob, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Who tells us to sleep faster, whatever the hell that means.
This whole ‘you either make it or you don’t’ is unhealthy as it develops an immense pressure to succeed because, let’s face it, nobody wants to be known as a failure.
The philosophy of Buddhism is fundamentally centred around the idea that we should seek moderation to gain peace of mind. The philosopher Alan watts emphasised the importance of centring yourself, to succeed in any direction of your life. Both Eastern philosophies of Taoism and Confucianism state that balance is the flow of life, allowing us to move with less effort.
Psychologists understand that the brain is split into two parts. On the left side is emotional/creative, and on the right side is guided by logic. In harmony leads to better decision making. This will support in feeling emotionally stimulated whilst having the backing of reason to remain rooted. This keeps decisions balanced.
Seeking the middle forms lasting happiness. As soon as we start to indulge, chase the high and seek constant pleasure, we lose sight of appreciating the simple things in life. On the flip side, if we are all about work, work harder and longer, neglect ourselves, we can never really experience the true essence of joy. So, it’s all about finding the middle way, know that you can work hard and take time out to reward yourself for your efforts. This becomes a constant throughout life, of working hard and playing hard.
Values play a crucial role. I often fell into the trap of focusing all my attention on my career throughout the years. I would put all my emotions and creative energy into my career. Interestingly, when I had time to relax, it was focused back in the office as I still thought about work. This often made me quite restless, bored and upset if I didn’t have a job.
I discovered from modern-day self-help authors such as Tim Ferris and Ryan Holiday that it’s more about balancing life with different pursuits, creating your lifestyle. Make life enjoyable, put energy into health, hobbies, personal relationships, life experiences, travel, and career. Life should be balanced and not focused all in one direction.
Balance keeps us focused on the vision ahead. We can then dictate how much pressure we can handle based on how we feel. Too much pressure will make us feel overwhelmed. However, too less, and we get the sense of having a black and white pessimistic outlook. Seek moderation in all things. Work hard, play hard.