Sometimes I feel like I hypocrite when I preach a balanced and sustainable lifestyle...
However, I think the missing key is the concept of "short-term sacrifice" - during which time you lose your balance.
The moments in my life that have brought me the most personal fulfilment have not come from balance.
Here I don't mean those special moments with friends or family, the sense of being a part of a community, etc. etc. - I mean personal fulfilment from achieving your purpose in life.
These moments were the day I rowed for England (after 3 years of training), the day I published my book (after 2 years of writing), the day I finished university/when I received my results (after 4 years of hard work), the day live. launched (that required everything I had), and the day I received my first video testimonials were I saw the emotion of my clients as they overcame sickness and pain, or threw away their medication - the last one being the most fulfilling as it literally brought me to tears.
This was only possible through sacrifice, not balance.
However, it is not possible to maintain the sacrifices made that brought these to life.
In-fact, I almost intuitively had to go to the other extreme at times and give myself complete time off or let loose in order to bring myself back to my "balance point".
This is the part of balance that is less talked about - even on my part.
What you do often hear from me is "develop a lifestyle that you don't feel the need to cheat on" - which couldn't be more true, but along the way you will always find yourself at the extremes on either side.
And fundamentally, this comes down to being selective.
If something deep down is worth it, the sacrifices will be too.
But this has to come from a stable foundation of balance, and a lifestyle that you could see yourself sustaining forever.