The Mental Balancing Act We All Must Manage
There is one mental balancing act we all must manage if we want to become the best version of ourselves. It doesn’t matter if you are a parent or a child, a coach or an athlete, a boss or an individual contributor.
Everyday of our life we must learn to effectively balance boredom and anxiety.
Boredom
It’s Saturday. You wake up with nothing to do. No goals, no dreams, no passions, and no energy. You’re bored. This isn’t going to end good.
You’re at work. You can do your job with your eyes closed. The truth is, you’re job is easy. You finish all your work and it isn’t even lunch yet. You have nothing to do, so you surf social media trying to look busy for the rest of the day. You’re bored. This isn’t going to end good.
You’re a youth athlete. You’re better than everyone your age. You dominate every competition. No one can stop you and it’s not even close. None of the adults in the room are doing anything to challenge you. You’re bored. This isn’t going to end good.
Anxiety
It’s Saturday. You wake up and have to work overtime this weekend and you don’t get paid for overtime. But you have no choice. In the back of your mind you can’t stop thinking about all the other things you have on your plate. Your house is a mess. Your kids need help with a project that’s due Monday. You haven’t got an oil change in 6 months and your brakes are squeaking. Your spouse is demanding more quality time and you just need more time, you could care less if it’s quality. You have anxiety. This isn’t going to end good.
You’re the boss. Your best employee took another job with a competitor. Now you have to do your job and her job. You’re so busy working, you don’t have time to interview to fill the position. Your customers are complaining. You have more customers you can handle and you’re already working from 5am to 9pm each day. Day off, you don’t know what that is. You haven’t had a weekend off in over a year. You have anxiety. This isn’t going to end good.
You’re a youth athlete. Your parents put you on the best elite travel team in the state. You try your best, but every time you go to practice you just can’t keep up. You haven’t had the chance to play in a game all season because you’re not good enough to crack the line up. You’re parents keep telling you to work harder because you are wasting their money. You tell them you don’t like your team or coach but your parents won’t listen. You have anxiety. This isn’t going to end good.
Finding Balance
A life well spent is a life with balance. Things aren’t so easy that boredom dominates. Things aren’t so hard that anxiety dominates.
Finding that sweet spot somewhere in between is the trick to make life sweet.