I’ve recently been working with a number of clients on a variety of initiatives that are important to them. The work covers everything from sorting out finances to rationalising possessions and intergenerational support (helping the kids!). I love it – exploring possibilities, identifying opportunities, developing and implementing plans. However, just recently I was brought up short…

At times it is all too easy to get carried away, particularly when progress is swift. I found myself at just such a moment – we’d had a breakthrough and suddenly there was much to be done in one particular area. Make hay I thought – let’s get on with it… so we did.

It was only later that I realized we’d become completely pre-occupied with the moment and were missing the bigger picture – BALANCE.

The core message emerging from our work with successful octogenarians, the secret of their success was being able to strike and maintain a balance across the six pillars. Yet successful octogenarians all reported experiencing more than the ‘odd wobble’t times.   Their long-term success was not down maintaining a balance constantly, if fact far from it!  Their busy lives inevitably brought all sorts of ups and down which at times threw their balance off kilter.  Their success came from knowing this, and when they were off balance they would wait for an appropriate moment and then ‘getting back on the horse’.