Life Areas
Intro
Life areas represent the essential aspects of life you need to take care of for long-term fulfillment.
What aspects of your life will cause issues if neglected?
Concept
Life areas are the different aspect of your life. They are not complicated, but they are important.
Life areas are not limited but can include:
- Health
- Family
- Relationship
- Friends
- Mission / Work
- Finance
- Spirituality
- Hobby
- Emotion
Balance in these areas is crucial. Balance by output, not time. And you define the output you need yourself. If you only need 3 close friends and you got them, that's perfect. But make sure you keep them around and actually invest in those relationships properly!
You can reduce or expand the life areas as you like. The most important thing is that you know what they mean to you and that you take care of them. The goal here is progress, not perfection. If your nutrition is bad, start with a heatlhy breakfast. If you see your parents to little, schedule a regular call, once a month. You don't have to get every area to its best by tomorrow.
Investing in Sequence
Avoid the trap of "Investing in Sequence," such as thinking, "I'll focus on friends after achieving financial stability." This approach leads to imbalance and potential consequences.
If you are a young reader, odds tell, that your worst day didn't arrive yet. So at some point, something terrible will happen, maybe a loved one dies, or even worse. This will be the moment where you need family, and friends. And if you didn't take care of it until then, that won't only be your worst, but also your loneliest day.
Life's challenges are inevitable. Building a robust support system through balanced life areas can make tough times more bearable. Investing effort across all areas is essential for overall well-being.
My Implementation
I use a Notion database, where I document all my life areas, what they mean to me and how I ensure I will fulfill them long term.
Apart from that, I have a monthly journal (also in Notion), where I note down all the major life areas. There I reflect, what gets too little attention and I set SMART goals for that month. Many of those are also achieved through habits like doing sports 5x a week, or eating at least one meal with my parents a week.
The life areas help me a lot to balance my naive and young urge to "just build a business and go to the gym", with more sustainable sources of happiness like family, health and spirituality.
Why I chose those life areas
I chose those life areas, because I feel like this is the bare minimum that I need to take care of in order to not risk losing one aspect of life. I can't leave away any of those life areas, without the others having consequences by it.
Application
Step 1
Choose a persistent method to document your life areas. I prefer Notion, but a physical notebook works too.
Step 2
List all life areas important to you. Mine are mentioned above.
Step 3
Set up a recurring review system. It could be monthly or bi-annual. Use calendar reminders or alarms to stay consistent.
Step 4
For each area, envision the ideal state. What does it look like in 5 or 15 years?
Step 5
Identify daily actions for each area that align with your vision. What steps can you take today to move closer to your ideal?
Step 6
Enjoy your journey toward a fulfilling, resilient, and improved life, one step at a time.
Final thought
Looking back in 20 years, what should you have given more attention today?