A Well Rounded Life

What does it mean to have a well rounded life?  Well rounded is defined as full, varied and satisfying.

Don’t you first think of a way to make a living?  What kind of job can you do that brings you joy, pays the bills and doesn’t take up all your time?  Well, there is no job that meets those requirements.  You might find a career or a calling that can satisfy those needs.  Or you’ll learn to love what you are doing right in this moment and make the job a good job.  But meeting the needs, the requirements listed above doesn’t make your life well rounded. 

Becky McCray and I were working on some projects a couple of weeks ago, and she asked me if I had a well rounded life list.  I looked at her like she was crazy.  What did she mean?  I work all the time.  Now, I love what I do so I thought working a lot would be okay.  But it’s not. Even though I love my job. 

Erno Hannick says this about a well rounded life:

The three keys of a well-rounded life:

• develop wisdom
• develop prosperity (where ‘you’ have to define what you consider living prosperously)
• develop physical well being

Erno continues with the 5 pillars for a well-rounded life for entrepreneurs:

• supporting yourself (nutrition, exercise, knowledge)
• supporting your family (money, time, legacy)
• supporting your business (purpose, clients, partners)
• supporting your community (community work, time, funds)
• supporting a better world (from successful to useful)

These are some great guides for figuring out what a well rounded life would be for me.

Taking a big picture view, I’d say my well rounded life includes:

• Increasing my physical wellness
• spending time with my mom and my family 
• becoming financially sound 
• exploring my misfitness
• volunteering
• travel

Whew, I now have a well rounded life list.  But wait, Becky says that is not enough.  Now I have to work on this list, add and subtract from it, develop it, look at it often.  Create plans for each item on the list – and work the plan. What do each of those things mean to me?  How do they contribute to my well rounded life?  I will pay attention to doing those things that make my life well rounded.

It’s easy for most of us to go to work, come home, eat supper and veg out on the couch.  It’s an American thing.  But what if we took a look at our well rounded life list and worked on that instead?  

This blog post was written for the Straight from The Corn State Bloggers: Iowa Bloggers.  I’ve been invited to be a featured blogger because I am from Iowa and have similar interests like these bloggers do.  They list family, recipes, farming, weddings, decor, crafts, health, do it yourself, faith, fitness, fashion and home as topics of interest.  All of those sound like items that could be on a well rounded life list!   I invite them, and you, to take a look at creating your own well rounded life list and work on it in 2014.  I’ll be happy to hear from you – what is on your list? 

Find the Iowa Bloggers at:  https://www.facebook.com/cornstatebloggers