The Untapped Superpower to Finding the Right Balance and Help Reduce Your Daily Stress

How to create balance in your life to feel more satisfied, empowered, and rested.

Moderation is a great equalizer and a untapped superpower.

The word moderate comes from the Latin verb moderare — ‘to control.’

Are you in control?

As a working professional, you may not feel as ‘in control’ of your days as much as you’d like.

Not being in control can be stressful.

Stress from work. Stress from family obligations. Stress from finances.

The list goes on and on.

Stress can seem endless and cyclical.

Like the ouroboros, stress can feel like an infinite loop of chasing your tail.

Dealing with life stressors takes time, energy, and focus.

And these resources are in limited supply.

So, how can you find the right balance?

Let’s do a self-assessment to help you find a sustainable balance.

We’ll look at 3 areas:

• Balancing your body & mind

• Balancing your work & life

• Balancing your relationships

Balancing your body & mind

Do you feel healthy? Are you eating right, drinking enough water, getting enough sleep, and exercising daily?

To help manage stress, focus on yourself first.

You’ll be able to handle external stressors better than before.

By being aware of, and managing your internal stress, you’ll feel much more in control.

Your body manages stress by releasing cortisol, a steroid hormone produced by your adrenal gland.

Cortisol affects almost every organ in your body.

It also plays an important role in the health of your:

• Immune system

• Nervous system

• Respiratory system

• Reproductive system

• Cardiovascular system

Too high, or too low, cortisol levels can have adverse affects on your body.

So it’s important to maintain a balance (i.e. homeostasis).

Cortisol levels are higher in the morning than in the evening.

You can use this to your advantage.

Here are 3 ways to use higher levels of cortisol in the morning:

1. Morning workouts — Cortisol can help the activation of energy stores. This makes it easier to perform physically demanding activities. Going for a run, lifting weights, jumping rope, or doing pushups are great morning routines that will make you feel fit and ready to start your day.

2. Eating the frog — this is a metaphor for completing your most important (or least enjoyable) task of the day — first! Use your morning alertness provided by cortisol (and caffeine if you like) to tackle important tasks that require focus and attention. It’s a good time for problem-solving, decision-making, and writing. Completing important tasks early in the day helps reduce stress and anxiety later in the day.

3. A healthy breakfast — Higher cortisol levels may help you metabolize food. A meal that includes complex carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fats will fuel your body and prepare you for the day. Greek yogurt, whole grains, oats, and avocados are good choices.

Balancing your work & life

Do you work to live?

Or do you live to work?

Find out by taking a “feelings” inventory of your job.

This is a list of all the feelings you have for your job.

The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Whether you work a 9–5, own your own business, partake in the gig economy, or are jobless at the right now, work can be a major external stressor.

Ask yourself, “How do I feel about the work I do?”

Is it contributing positively to your health, or is it detrimental?

If you wake up excited on Monday mornings, you’re most likely happy with your work.

But, if you wake up feeling down and fearful of your day ahead, it may be time for a work rebalancing exercise.

Write down a pros and cons list. Be honest and take your time.

You’ll be amazed at what you uncover with some focused reflection.

Ask yourself:

• Can I grow in my job?

• Do I like my manager?

• Can I learn from my manager?

• Will I be here in 1 year, 5 years, 10 years?

• Do I enjoy working with my peers?

• Do I like hanging out with them outside of work?

• Does the work I do fit my sense of purpose?

These questions are just the tip of the iceberg. Take your time and think of as many good and bad things about your job and write them down.

Go deep. Go wide. And be honest.

Remember, you’re only human. And you have cognitive biases that can rule your mind if you let it.

The Status Quo bias may be making you stay in your mediocre job.

This bias reinforces your current state of complacency because the act of change and taking action for a better job can be scary.

And, it takes action and energy.

So, you stay the course. Wanting to take action, but never do.

But, you don’t have to do it alone. There are professional career coaches that can help you assess your situation and help you find clarity.

But career coaches are expensive, right?

They can be. But let’s put the cost into perspective.

You spend hundreds of dollars a month on necessities like, food, rent, gas, clothing, etc.

You also spend an equal amount on discretionary items like Netflix/HBO/Apple TV subscriptions, lattes, booze, concerts, travel, dining out, and countless other money-burning activities.

So, why not spend a few of those well-earned dollars on your work/life balance?

This is an investment in yourself — your most precious resource.

Spending money on a career coach will be a one-time expense that could bring huge returns. And could be the first step to your next dream job.

A stable work/life balance, is an email away. Don’t you deserve it?

Yes. Yes, you do.

Balancing your relationships

How often do you make new friends?

If you’re like me, chances are you don’t go looking for new friends often.

You already have friends, right?

Plus, it sounds like a lot of work to make new friends and you barely have time for your current friends as it is.

True. But there are different types of friends and your relationship with each of them is unique.

So, making new friends from time-to-time is a good way to balance your friend dynamics.

Think about your closest friends and ask yourself these questions for each of them:

• Do they energize me, or drain me?

• Do they inspire me, or depress me?

• Do they want or need things from me?

• Do I want or need things from them?

• Do they call me to chat, because they care?

• Or, do they call me to chat, because they need something?

Admit it. Some of your friends are better than others. You know the ones I’m talking about.

The good ones are the friends that reach out because they truly care for you and your well-being.

The one that comes over for dinner and helps you clean the dishes as you talk.

The one that always remembers your birthday.

Or the one that sends you unexpected text messages with emojis that reveals secrets and ‘in-jokes’ only the two of you share.

There’s that one friend you can call when you’re feeling down, even after midnight.

Then you have the friends that are the complete opposite.

The ones that are always complaining about something.

The ones that try to get out of paying the dinner check.

The ones that expect you to help them move, drive them to the airport, or do some other favor, without asking you first.

If your friends all fall into the latter category, you need to find a balance.

Yes, you want to be there for all your friends, but not if they drain you of energy all the time.

You need (and deserve) friends that care about you.

Friends that trust you, inspire you, and energize you.

Friends that accept you for who you are. Period.

So, if you think you need a positive friend boost, put yourself out there and find them. You deserve to be in good company.

If you only remember one thing from this article, I hope it’s this: Moderation is a simple way to find balance.

Instead of going to extremes to solve your problems, moderate them to avoid them becoming problems in the first place.

Daily moderation is preventative medicine

To lose weight, don’t jump on the next diet fad for help. This will give you a false sense that your weight loss will be easy and immediate. It won’t!

It will take time and discipline. It will be difficult. Accepting this is half your battle.

If you want to lose weight, see a nutritionist and let them help you figure out what you should eat, when, and how much, based on your lifestyle.

An Olympic athlete requires a very different diet than someone who sits in a chair for 8 hours a day staring at a screen.

Craft a plan.

Act on it.

Stick to it.

And be happy knowing you’re on the right track.

Stay curious and become unstoppable

Curiosity prepares the the mind for solving complex problems in unique ways. Stay curious and grow with the multiverse.

For inspiration and helpful ideas for creatives — plus tips on living a meaningful, joyful, carefree, and productive life — sign up for my free newsletter. 👇

21st Century Alchemy — A practical and philosophical newsletter for modern-day personal transformation.