What is life balance? Is balance a state where outer circumstances are settled and in harmony or is balance an internal state? Or is it both...?

What does it mean to you? Balance is defined as "a condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions". This invites us to look at the "larger picture" or whole system, and think holistically about the different interests and life pieces we consider important.

Ever so often life presents us with challenges and lessons to be learned. We can meet that challenge, or we can let our instinct take over and pretend it's not happening. We can not flee from our challenges forever. There are certain roadblocks and certain thresholds that will guide us into the next phase of our life. We can avoid them, resist them, or flee from them. None of this will really work. We have to give ourselves the time to sit with our challenges. To be with them, to not hold back.

Most often we try to hard. We control and push ourselvses. We want freedom and peace, and rest and relaxation. We want to be ourselves and learn more things. And be authentic. We search, and strive, and improve ourselves. We keep going and don't let ourselves deeply settle within.

We run after things, hope things get better, reject what is going on, and rarely just are present with what is.

Here are some of the essential ingredients to overcome obstacles and to stay on track with your goals.

1. Develop confidence and steadfastness

One of the main ways to stay on track with any new habit, or goal you have set for yourself, is to be able to develop a degree of steadfastness. Steadfastness, is being willing and capable to stay with a goal, and to be able to let yourself be focused and in alignment with it, without distractions and excuses. As you develop that steadfastness, so does your confidence, and you become increasingly able to become focused and aligned without being thrown of track.