Balance, The Wheel of Life & Who Are You?

I’ve been struggling with developing a cohesive collection of content (yeah, say that fast 5 times…) for Selah Studios (formerly Selah Reflections). You see, I’m interested in so many things that it is easy for me to get pulled in an “Oh Shiny!” direction or get interested in what another blogger is doing on their site.

The core of this site, and a few others I’ve tried over the years, is about running a business from home and still having a life. About not letting that business become a 24/7 thing and the importance of taking deliberate, intentional time off.

Entrepreneurs are a group of people I can identify with. I see and experience what home-based entrepreneurs go through. Sharing what I am learning through my own journey is something I enjoy writing about.

But, what about my creative side? My love of the outdoors? The idea of developing creativity and problem-solving skills? Of taking care of your health so you and your business thrives? What about… this list could go on and on and on.

And what about my readers, what will they be interested in? In looking at my list of blog subscribers not all are business owners, in fact, there are a few retired folks on the list!  –> Just a heads up… a short survey will be coming your way soon…

Last night in working on my content ideas, I had an important aha moment. It was the merging of 2 concepts. First – Zig Ziglar’s idea of the “Wheel of Life” and second, this blog post, “You Are Your Business: Who Are you?”.

The Wheel of Life

Zig Ziglar talks about what a successful life looks like in his book Born To Win. He presents the idea that a balanced and successful life means that we make regular investments in the following 7 areas:

1. Career
2. Social
3. Financial
4. Family
5. Physical
6. Mental / Personal Development
7. Spiritual

Click here to see a different (aka prettier) version of The Wheel of Life.

I’ll be the first to admit that I think “balance” as we so idealistically dream it up is a myth. Balance means no bumps in the road, we are all happy as clams, etc. – that version of balance does not exist.

There are times when being out of balance is necessary. It’s a catalyst for change. It is a focus on a sick family member that you lose sleep over and possibly ignore your work for. It is a website project that keeps you from social engagements and away from your family for a short period.

While short-term out-of-balanceness can be beneficial, long-term out-of-balanceness can do great harm to you, your family, and your business.

You are Your Business: Who Are You?

In this post author Julie Harris asks this simple yet vital question. As I read her post I knew that one of the reasons I was struggling with organizing my content and topic ideas was that I was leaving part of myself out of the equations. Instead, I was forcing myself into a specific mold.

When you do not let your personality show, when you try to shut down a part of you and leave that out of the marketing mix of your business, creating for your business will always be a struggle.

In my web design business, I left out my love of the outdoors for years. This year, as soon as I was “given permission” to embrace this love in my new brand, I ran with it. I have felt better about my business than I have in a long time.

Same here at Selah Reflections. As soon as I embraced the idea of not cutting out a part of me that I value, outdoors, creativity, etc., I lit up. I got excited and realized that I was opening doors and opportunities for the future of this site.

Putting it All Together

Being self-employed and working from home with family responsibilities, client needs, personal care, and more, can leave you feeling drained, stressed, exhausted, and completely uninspired.

When you don’t take the time to embrace all the areas of your life and invest in them on a regular basis, the balance you want, and the simplicity you crave get drowned out in a sea of to-do lists, urgent projects, and tunnel vision.

So moving forward I will continue the philosophy of this site of Pausing, Reflecting, Creating, and Growing but it will be in a slightly broader sense. The topics I will be writing about will be in the following areas:

• Business
• Creativity
• Inspiration
• Health
• Balance
• Adventures
• Retreating

Thank you for joining me on this adventure and I hope you will continue to join me as I move in a slightly new direction.

What part(s)* of the wheel of life do you need to invest in?

*P.S. For me, it is most definitely parts, plural. Career and family have been my primary focus for so long that the other parts of the wheel have sometimes been practically depleted. It’s time to change that.

**While my personal focus on this site will be on the work-from-home entrepreneur. This concept of investing in the 7 areas applies to EVERYONE, especially to some crazy busy, awesomely wonderful moms I know. How do we make time for all 7 areas? That is what we are here to learn.