THOUGHT for YOUR WEEK:
A Credit Check on Your Balance
By Catherine Pulsifer

When we go to the bank for a loan they look at our debt ratio by calculating how much we spend on housing, how much we spend using credit cards, etc. Depending on the percentages (and of course, by our credit rating) they agree or don’t agree to lend us the money we requested.

If you were to take one week and calculate your percentage for:

- Time spent at work;
- Time spent with your family and friends;
- Time spent improving yourself (whether by taking a course or reading a book, etc.);
- Time spent relaxing;
- Time spent sleeping;

What would your ratio be? Would you say you had a balanced life?

To keep our credit in good standing, we need to ensure we keep an eye on the percentages of where our money is being allocated. If we don’t do this, we could end up with not being able to borrow money. The same principle applies to our time. Are we allocating our time in the right percentages? At times, it is difficult to keep a proper balance in our lives. But, over time, an improper balance will lead to problems such as:

- too much time at work leads to burn out;
- too much time with family and friends can cause anxiety with your work;
- too much time improving yourself will leave little time to apply what you have learned;
- too much time relaxing can lead to issues with your work; and, - too much time sleeping can cause all kinds of problems!

I could flip everyone one of these points and comment instead on “not enough time”. But, I think you understand what I am driving at. It is balance; we need it. The sad part is that some people pay more attention to their credit than they do to their own balance in life!

Stop and assess your ratio. Do you have a life balance?

QUOTES for your WEEK:

"Loneliness is the most terrible poverty."
Mother Teresa

"If you don't think every day is a great day try going without one."
Jim Evans

"Cherish your human connections: your relationships with friends and family."
Barbara Bush

“Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend.”
Diogenes Laetius

"Every morning you are handed 24 golden hours. They are one of the few things in this world that you get free of charge. If you had all the money in the world, you couldn't buy an extra hour. What will you do with this priceless treasure?"
Author Unknown

"If you go looking for a friend, you're going to find they're very scarce. If you go out to be a friend, you'll find them everywhere."
Zig Ziglar

"Don't wait for a funeral to pay a compliment. You may not make it in time."
Harvey Mackay

"Friends are as companions on a journey, who ought to aid each other to persevere in the road to a happier life."
Pythagoras

"Your friends will know you better in the first minute you meet than your acquaintances will know you in a thousand years."
Richard Bach