We need to regularly feed, exercise and rest each of these four areas. If we neglect an area, our lives get out of balance. Our performance suffers, our relationships suffer, our motivation dips and our health will deteriorate. In order to restore balance, we need to nurture all aspects of our nature.
Care for Your Body
To develop a healthy body we need to:
Eat a balanced, healthy diet.
Get enough sleep and learn to manage stress.
Take regular exercise.
Care for Your Mind
To maintain a healthy mind, we need to:
Feed our minds on new and stimulating ideas. Reading is one of the best ways to achieve this.
Balance time spent learning, analysing, and being creative.
Learn to think both logically and creatively.
Care for Your Relationships
Our emotional lives are based on our relationships. To be effective in this area, we need to habitually:
Spend time with others.
Be alone.
Work with others, communicate effectively, enjoy people.
Care for Yourself Spiritually
The spiritual dimension of our lives is based on our values, our purpose and our legacy. To flourish in this area we need to:
Have heroes. Read the spiritual classics. Nurture your values.
Take time out to pray, to meditate or to find solace in nature.
Live purposefully and with spirit.
And Jesus grew in wisdom (mental) and stature (physical), and in favour with God (spiritual) and man (relational). Like 2:52 (NIV)
Like 2:52 (NIV)
Take Responsibility
We don’t wait for someone else to take responsibility for our lives. Instead, we take the initiative; we promote our own growth and well-being.
Everyone is a house with four rooms: Physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Unless we go into every room every day, even if only to keep it aired, we are not a complete person. Rumer Godden
Rumer Godden
Share with Others
Although each of us is responsible for our own development, our journey will be easier if we walk with others.
Here are a few ideas:
Talk to family and friends about our efforts, uncertainties, struggles and successes
Join (or form) a group – an exercise class, a church, a social club…
Take it on-line – find a forum, use social networking sites (Facebook), read / contribute to blogs (especially mine!)
Appendix
The table bellow explores these dimensions a little more.
I’ve added the environmental dimension, because it provides a context in which to explore the other dimensions.
Stephen R. Covey discusses these dimensions of growth in his book, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”. The relevant chapter is entitled, “Sharpen the Saw”.
