Hi lovely listeners! I’m your host, Alecia St. Germain, and today, Jonathan Dugger and are tackling a topic that has been on our minds since we started this podcast: achieving life balance. This conversation stemmed from our ongoing discussions about mindfulness, and we wanted to expand on it by exploring how balance fits into every aspect of our lives, especially for those of us in business.
Many of our clients are successful on paper—they’ve built businesses, invested in wealth creation, and seem to have it all. There’s a gap between external success and internal fulfillment, which can often lead to burnout and dissatisfaction.
What Does True Wellness Mean?
Jonathan shares an important point: wellness is more than just being physically healthy. In fact, he shared his wellness wheel, which includes seven key dimensions: physical, emotional, spiritual, social, intellectual, occupational, and financial wellness. Focusing solely on one aspect, like physical health or financial success, while neglecting others creates an imbalance.
We tend to over-prioritize things like work and money, while forgetting about our emotional and social needs, our relationships, and our spiritual growth. But true success is about maintaining balance across all these dimensions.
The idea of balance doesn’t mean spending equal time on each area of life. It’s more about efficiency—understanding that sometimes, a small but focused amount of time can have a huge impact. For example, I might only need 10 minutes of quality time with my daughter to feel fulfilled in that area of my life, even though I might spend hours on work. It’s not about spending equal amounts of time; it’s about filling cups in less time doing efficient things.
But the trick to real balance is making sure you aren’t constantly sacrificing one area for another. Jonathan highlighted how we often steal from areas like self-care or socializing to work more or make more money, which can become a maladaptive habit. Over time, neglecting even one aspect of wellness can have destructive effects, like leading to stress or burnout.
Life is a Laboratory
One of the most powerful insights Jonathan shared was viewing life as an experiment—a laboratory where we get to try things, notice what works, and adjust. This is where mindfulness comes in.
In my work inside the Exponential Entrepreneur, we develop a framework for making these important life shifts. When we pay attention to our imbalances without judgment, it becomes easier to make meaningful changes. We need to get curious about what helps us thrive.
Take Action: How to Assess and Adjust
If you’re feeling out of balance, start by assessing the different areas of your life. Ask yourself: What’s strong? What’s weak? It’s about taking baby steps and deciding what area to focus on at any given time.
Choose one area, make some small changes, and watch how it affects other aspects of your life.
As we gear up for the retreat we’re planning (more details coming soon!), one of the main focuses will be helping people realign areas of their life that are out of balance.
Life is an ongoing journey, and our hope is that through this podcasts and future retreats, we can help you find success, balance, and fulfillment. Stay tuned for more on how you can be part of that. Remember, success is about more than money—it’s about being well in every aspect of your life.
Until next time, sending you so much love and be well!
