Opinion - Taking the higher branch

In my one-on-one mentoring I teach the simple concept of life-blending. It is much more effective than trying to balance all areas of life. It is very simple and very effective but comes with two fundamental pre-requisites.

Firstly, you must have your authentic self on display at all times. Secondly, you must plant yourself in the right field – a job that you love.

I like to use a journal where I can record the actions I need to take in eight key areas of life (which I call the eight ‘Trees of Life’): health, love, family, work, friendship, learning, wealth and charity. I call this the page for my mind – it helps me focus.

I also reserve a page each week for reflection. It is how I felt about the actions I have taken and the results of those actions. It helps me process any negative emotions before they take hold of and influence my future actions.

Every Sunday night I review where my focus has been for the week. This helps me identify whether I have neglected an area of my life. A journal cannot lie. If you have not spent time exercising or spending time with your family, or not performing at work, you will quickly see it.

Having the eight Trees of Life as a guide and journaling daily is very empowering. It takes discipline but the results are phenomenal, and because it is about life blending, it’s application to work is as important as any other area of life. It applies both to a life partner and to a client seeking advice about a loan.

The most successful people I have come across do the simple things consistently. They exercise, they learn to relax, they love and support their family, they create wealth by investing in themselves, they are frugal, and they are charitable with their ideas.

There is a difference between ‘being alive’ and ‘living’. When we embrace change we live with adventure. It leads to living because when we try something new we are stepping into unknown territory. When that happens our five senses are stimulated.

When we do the same thing every day our five senses become too familiar with the known. People call that their comfort zone when in reality it is where their senses go to die. So when people do not embrace change it means they are clinging to their comfort zone.

Change is no different from good health or friendships or the privilege of working. If we take it for granted we may lose it.

We resist change but secretly thrill at the prospect of being faced with it. We want to know we have the opportunity for change, even if we do not embrace it. We think that we have plenty of time to make that change in the future.

However, we must think of change like the waves on a beach. Waves of adventure and opportunity come into our life daily – both professionally and personally. Just like a surfer, we can choose to ride these waves or else they leave us behind. Most people let them pass because they are afraid of where the waves will lead them.

I think it is easy to embrace change if we acknowledge that one day it may not be around.

Sam Makhoul is the author of A Higher Branch (2011).