The 8 Areas of Life for Well-Balanced Living

How many times have you found yourself wanting a better quality of life while feeling unsure about how to actually achieve this goal?

The good news is that if you have felt like this before (or even are now!), you are not alone! The majority of people are unsure how to find balance in their lives, even though they are desperately seeking it.

Understanding the 8 areas of life can help you to gain the perspective you need in order to achieve a well-balanced life.

It’s important to work at each of these different areas of your life in order to keep all of them working together as one unit.

What are the 8 Areas of Life?

• Health and Fitness
• Personal Growth and Spiritual Growth
• Money and Finances
• Career and Business
• Friends and Family
• Fun and Recreation
• Physical Environment
• Romantic Relationship

As a life coach I often see people who focus all of their energy on a single area of life, or maybe even a few life areas while forgetting about the rest.

For example, humans are social beings so we may spend the majority of our time focusing all of our energy on good friends and family members. But while we are focusing on the ‘ideal’ social life, we forget about deep diving into the uncomfortable areas of life such as building our financial goals and personal development.

The key to living a well-balanced life is to focus your attention on all life areas. This sounds pretty overwhelming, doesn’t it? Do everything? Isn’t that what leads to the feeling of an unbalanced life in the first place?

Remember that the goal isn’t to give 110% of your energy to every single area of life. However, in order to achieve real balance in your life, you should focus at least some of your goal setting attention on each of the major areas of life in order to find true life satisfaction.

Below I will go over each area of life so that you’re able to gain a better understanding of what may fall under each category. I encourage you to take the time to rank yourself from 1-10 (with 10 being the highest) after each category.

Health and Fitness

The first of the 8 areas of life is physical health. It should be no surprise that your physical health is an area of life that should be a top priority if you want to live a good quality life.

Your overall health depends on making the choice to fuel your body by eating a healthy diet, exercising frequently, and living with a positive mindset. Too often we take advantage of our physical body by eating poorly, drinking heavily, and hoping it doesn’t affect us too much in the future.

Over time, poor habits can lead to very serious health issues such as heart disease. They also impact our mental health. It’s never too late to stop bad habits and to start creating new habits to live a fuller, healthier, more balanced lifestyle.

One of the most famous excuses for reasons why people don’t focus on health and fitness is because they “don’t have time”. Think about the amount of time you spend scrolling social media, ordering food on the newest food delivery app, shopping online or watching TV.

Trust me, you do have the time to work on your physical health! It’s only a matter of whether you truly want to.

In the long run, time is going to pass regardless of the way you choose to spend your free time. So think about how you want to spend your time and if you can use that time to honor your body.

Ideas for goal setting in health and fitness:

• Exercising
• Drinking water
• Meditation
• Eating healthy balanced meals
• Developing a positive mindset
• Quality sleep daily
• Managing stress
• Regular check-ups
• Weight loss

Time to Reflect: On a scale of 1-10, rank how satisfied you are with this area of life. How could you improve in this category?

Personal Growth and Spiritual Growth

In order to live a meaningful life, it’s important to determine your purpose and passion in life. Our thoughts and beliefs shape our day to day experiences, which is why we are such strong believers in the importance of personal growth here at Joyful Through It All.

It’s important to have personal goals that allow you to develop your skills, turn a fixed mindset into a growth mindset, and follow your life’s dreams and goals.

Dream big for the life you want to live and find ways to make those dreams become your reality!

We have no idea how much time we have on this Earth. So why not spend everyday life working toward achieving your goals and aiming to become a better person?

Ideas for goal setting in personal growth and spiritual growth:

• Read a self-improvement book
• Take a class to learn a new skill
• Develop a growth mindset
• Set goals and monitor your progress
• Use affirmation cards
• Journal
• Read the bible or other spiritual material
• Listen to a self-improvement podcast
• Determine your life goals
• Practice self care

Time to Reflect: On a scale of 1-10, rank how satisfied you are with this area of life. How could you improve in this category?

Money and Finances

It is common for people to spend too much attention on the aspects of life that come easy, and avoid the areas of our lives that are more challenging. Finances is the area of life that most people avoid working on. But the truth is that if you lived a life of true financial freedom, you would be leading a much more fulfilling life.

The first step to experience happiness in your financial life is understanding how much money you earn and gaining control over your financial situation. Think of all the times you or your good friends or family members were bogged down over the stress of money and finances. 

It doesn’t have to be that way! The world tells us that math is complicated and finances are something that should be left to the experts. But the reality is that it’s not that difficult to get a hold of your finances if you truly want to. 

Many people tell themselves that they don’t make enough money, or they just need to have the newest tech gadget, or that it’s impossible to get out of debt. But, in reality, all you need to do is set goals and start working toward them.

If you really want to live a well-balanced life, it’s time to pay off your debt, hold yourself accountable, and stop trying to keep up with the Jonases. All it takes is making a commitment to your goals today and being in a better place with your finances tomorrow.

Ideas for goal setting in your financial life:

• Setting and sticking to a budget
• Pay off credit cards
• Get out of debt
• “No spend” days
• Only buying the necessities 
• Working on your money mindset

Time to Reflect: On a scale of 1-10, rank how satisfied you are with this area of life. How could you improve in this category?

Career and Business

Most people spend more time working than they do with their family, or even sleeping for that matter. Your career has the power to bring you great happiness, meaning, and purpose in your life. The purpose of your career is not solely to make money and buy things you think you need. 

Many people hate their jobs and spend their entire life in an industry they care nothing about while refusing to make a change. So many people truly believe that they can’t quit a job they hate. But imagine if you focused your energy on why you can quit? How would your life be different if you truly loved your career?

Now, I know not everyone hates their job. But if you do, you need to hear my husband’s story about why quitting teaching was the best thing he ever did. Quitting is possible, and it can lead to important changes in your life!

When reflecting on this category think about how you truly feel in your career. If you could make changes, would you?

Ideas for goal setting in your career and business:

• Set motivating career goals
• Find work life balance 
• Aim for a promotion
• Reflect on your skills
• Additional qualifications
• A new career path
• Additional education 
• Start a side hustle or your own business
• Change career paths entirely 

Time to Reflect: On a scale of 1-10, rank how satisfied you are with this area of life. How could you improve in this category?

Friends and Family

With social media at our fingertips, it’s easier than ever to stay connected with our best friends and family members. Social media is often why people find it easier to maintain certain key areas of life.

But there is an important difference between the quality time that healthy relationships need, and just liking someone’s photo.

While ranking your score for this category, be sure to consider the quality of your relationships with your friends and family in order to determine if you are truly satisfied with this area of life.

Goals to set with friends and family:

• Resolving conflicts
• Spending quality time
• Building new friendships
• Healing relationships
• Setting boundaries

Time to Reflect: On a scale of 1-10, rank how satisfied you are with this area of life. How could you improve in this category?

Fun and Recreation

Fun and recreation is the area of your life wheel where you look at your hobbies, interests, and anything you may do as a form of self care for fun.

It’s important to make time for doing the things that truly bring you joy. Remember that you do have time to enjoy your hobbies and interests, however the only way you can is if you make time!

Goals to set in fun and recreation:

• Try new things
• Take a vacation
• Enjoy your hobbies (sports, activities, video games, music)
• Aquire a new skill
• Volunteer
• Weekend away

Time to Reflect: On a scale of 1-10, rank how satisfied you are with this area of life. How could you improve in this category?

Physical Environment

Your physical environment consists of where you live, your home, your city, country, etc. Do you feel safe in your physical environment? Is your home clean enough to sustain your daily needs? Are you in need of decluttering or living a more simple life? Are you able to get out into nature where you live with clean fresh air? All of these aspects contribute to your physical environment.

Goals to set in your physical environment:

• Reducing clutter
• Cleaning
• Daily chores
• Organizing
• Daily life plan

Time to Reflect: On a scale of 1-10, rank how satisfied you are with this area of life. How could you improve in this category?

Romantic Relationship

The last of the 8 areas of life is for your love relationship.

Having a romantic partner that loves us unconditionally provides us with security and stability. We need this reassurance to effectively balance all of the other areas of life.

Just like having a healthy social life, this is a life area that people tend to spend a lot of energy on. We have been conditioned to think that romantic relationships are the most important thing in our lives. But in reality, finding a person who fits in with all 8 areas of life is the key to sharing happiness with another person.

Time to Reflect: On a scale of 1-10, rank how satisfied you are with this area of life. How could you improve in this category?

Goals to set in your romantic relationships

• Date before entering serious relationships
• Clear your schedule for your significant other
• Surprise your loved one
• Revisit an old memory together

Balancing the 8 Areas of Life

There is no such thing as perfect balance. Even if you are living your best life, the world will always throw a new difficult situation at you to test a specific area. But with the knowledge you have of the 8 areas of life, you will be more resistant to this pressure!

The next step is to take a look at your ranking in these important areas of your life. Which area has your lowest score? What could you do in this area of life to see better results? Remember that taking small steps are the best way to make positive impacts on your habits!

Your ideal life is waiting for you! Choose an area of life, set a goal, and start working toward it now!

Don’t forget to share this post with your friends and family on social media! If you know someone who could use some help in any of these areas of life, this could be just the blog post that they need!

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