Quotes About Balance

do once in a while.

There's no magic, one-size-fits-all solution to creating a happier, healthier, more productive, and more creative life; we can build a better life only on the foundation of our own nature, our own interests

When Obligers have the external accountability they need to meet their inner expectations, they don't experience any sense of limitation or self-frustration—and of course many environments, such as the workplace, tend to supply lots of accountability. When what others expect from Obligers is what they expect from themselves, they have the life they want.

Plainness was not necessarily simplicity," Frank Lloyd Wright cautioned. "Elimination, therefore, may be just as meaningless as elaboration, perhaps more often is so. To know what to leave out and what to put in; just where and just how, ah, that is to have been educated in knowledge of simplicity." My

Happiness is a critical factor for work, and work is a critical factor for happiness.

Habit is a good servant but a bad master.

Most Upholders are good at taking care of themselves and enjoying themselves.

one study of Facebook status updates showed that people who scored high on conscientiousness (good at planning and getting things done) also wrote a lot about getting rest and enjoying leisure - they frequently used words like weekend and relaxing

We should make sure the things we do to feel better don't make us feel worse.

Like Dr. Johnson, I'm an Abstainer: I find it far easier to give up something altogether than to indulge moderately. And this distinction has profound implications for habits.

Sprinters call Marathoners "plodding," and Marathoners call Sprinters "irresponsible," but there's no right way. Procrastinators, however, are happier when they change their work habits to work more steadily.

I remind myself, Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. (Cribbed from Voltaire.) A twenty-minute walk that I do is better than the four-mile run that I don't do. The imperfect book that gets published is better than the perfect book that never leaves my computer. The dinner party of take-out Chinese food is better than the elegant dinner that I never host.

Instead of being sources of stress, my home and my office are places of comfort and energy.

when we give more to ourselves, we can ask more of ourselves.

How can I deprive myself of something without feeling deprived? When it comes to habits, feeling deprived is a pernicious state. When we feel deprived, we feel entitled to compensate ourselves—often, in ways that undermine our good habits.

For people managing Upholders, it's helpful to remember that because they hate to fail to meet an expectation, they may find it hard to set priorities—all expectations seem equally important. To counter this, a boss or colleague should make priorities clear: "Usually I want that report every Friday, but when the annual report is due, it's okay to put off the weekly report while we finish the annual report. The annual report is more important.

I wanted a pace of life that was deliberate—that felt neither fast nor slow.

I realized that one way to deprive myself without creating a feeling of deprivation is to deprive myself totally.

It was time to expect more of myself. Yet as I thought about happiness, I kept running up against paradoxes. I wanted to change myself but accept myself. I wanted to take myself less seriously—and also more seriously. I wanted to use my time well, but I also wanted to wander, to play, to read at whim. I wanted to think about myself so I could forget myself. I was always on the edge of agitation; I wanted to let go of envy and anxiety about the future, yet keep my energy and ambition.

I can DO ANYTHING I want, but I can't DO EVERYTHING I want.

When we give more to ourselves, we can ask more from ourselves.

Exercise for sanity not vanity.

I didn't want to slow down, but rather to change the experience of the pace of my life...

Accomplish more by working less.