I am a loyal reader of the monthly newsletter I receive from The Center for Creative Leadership. In the September 2007 issue, CCL’s Joan Gurvis discusses work-life balance. I completely agree with Joan when she says, “balance is not a matter of managing your time or giving equal effort to two opposing sides; it is about aligning your behavior with what you believe is really important to you. When our lives don’t reflect our values, we feel that inconsistency as some measure of imbalance.”

What is really important to you? What are your values? These questions are some of the first ones I ask when meeting with a new coaching client. Our values act like an internal compass, pointing us in the right direction. If you choose to ignore the compass, you have a 75 percent chance of going in the wrong direction and getting lost.

The newsletter article also makes the point that finding your balance is about making clear choices that support your core values and then making adjustments over and over. What is most important to you today may not be all that important 10 years from now. So, life really is a balancing act.