The Problem With A Balanced Life - The Four Burners Theory

Let's talk about a balanced life.

In our modern society, we want to do it all. We want to be great at the work we do, we want to be healthy, we want to have great friends, all while being the best spouse and the best parent we can be.
This is something many people want, but rarely anyone achieves it.

But why is it so hard to achieve all those things?
Today we'll look at life balance through a concept known as The Four Burners Theory.

#LifeBalance #FourBurners

[Benjiffy]

Think I spend at least 70% on my fifth burner: worrying about how I'm not using any of the other four.

[billybobinthehouse]

I love your content! Simple to understand!

And congratulation on the growth of your channel, it’s amazing to see your work come to fruition!

I look forward to more philosophical videos, it’s a nice little treat for me 😊

[mindsinmotion]

This is such a true theory and I feel more people need to hear it. Every I hard doing what makes me happy for what's most important to me (my daughter) i know that by raising her properly now will pay off when she is an adult and can function in society on her own leaving me opportunity to focus on doing what makes me happiest

[giorgenesgelatti]

That's not entirely true. Not everything require full time to be well developed. For example health, eating well and exercising doesn't take that much time and the effects compound over time. You have to eat anyway so might as well eat well. It's pretty much the other 3 that you have to balance. If you don't work on your health everything else will suffer in the long term. You can neglect your health when you're young but for how long? Also taking care of your health translates to more energy to do the other 3 areas. So no, neglecting your health won't make you more successful at work or family or friends. On the contrary

[OpoSai]

This is very insightful as I'm going through this challenge myself trying to do too much when I only have so much time. Ultimately family and health are my most important burners, then friends and work. It's difficult to accept that I have to give up reading or learning a new hobby or instrument to working out or spending time with family more often than not. But this helps out to put it into perspective.

[huseynhuseynli]

MY BURNERS:
Education: 90%
Friends: 0%
Health: 0%
Family:10%

[crazyhezi]

The analogy is great, however there really isn't any problem with a balanced life, and that (in the title) is where you've missed the point- yeah, you should make life unbalanced in the sense that you give up one thing for the sake of the other, but if you continue to do that, then for the long run you've created your own way of being balanced! 😉

[googlesucks]

I employ my friends at my family's health food store: Life's a breeze.

[ardagus]

Calculating current burner status...
Family: 5%
Friends: 10%
Health: 20%
Work: 15%
Doing absolutely nothing: 50%...

[petersteenkamp]

Faulty logic. Less health means less personal energy, and then all the other "stoves" will lower as well.

[TheBruno]

For me you are forgeting 2 major things ;

1) The huge leaking of gaz before the burners 📉. Most of us spend time to do nothing important. Watching random video on youtube for exemple. So if you need to increase a burner try to fix the leak first.

2/ You can mix the burner a little bit, go to the gym with friend, work with your fammily for exemple.

Except those omission, i find this picture really good to figure it out how our decision can impact the rest of our life.
Thanks 🙏 for your work, your visual 🎥explanation are really impacting my brain 👍

[itsyaboinadia]

Umm, there's actually 5 burners: one for memes

[Kevin_Street]

I think for some people the "stove" isn't running at 100% efficiency, because there are things that are wasting our time, like procrastination, getting up late or even health problems. So the first priority should be "health" or "efficiency" or whatever is needed for us to utilize all of our available time. Then a better balance can be attained between the "burners."

[ervinfowlkes]

I think there are some big assumptions here:
1. The assumption of mutual exclusivity. Are the four chosen burners really on the same continuum? . If I work out with my family I am effectively running two burners at once.

2. Not every burner needs me at the same time. I workout at 6am, family is sleep, office isn’t open yet anyway.

3. Assuming that keeping a burner on requires time, being healthy is more about proper nutrition than time in a gym. So I can do that without cost to the other burners.

4. Assuming all of my energy is making it to the stove, there may be huge leaks that I need to seal first.

But an interesting theory nonetheless.

[somewhereright]

You can't neglect your health. If you're sick, you can't do anything.

[CrisSkyTube]

It’s obvious, Elon Musk has come up with the technology to make his days, and only his days 48 hours long.

[Ayot]

Ah, this must be why I just end up spinning my wheels and inadvertantly slipping into mediocrity when I try to be amazing, disciplined and perfect in every area of life at once.

[gmkbelanger]

This theory draws a false equivalency between health and the other three: people that exercise and eat and sleep well have more energy to pursue the other three and perform cognitively better at work. Their mood, motivation, and stamina are better which boosts the results of any effort or time invested in work, friends, and family. It is simplistic and incorrect to assume that life is a zero-sum game, and that anything you give to one area takes away from the others. Having colleagues at work who are also friends has innumerable benefits, and sometimes these friends become "family". The "burners" can blend and melt into each other to a certain extent, and an approach that benefits one area of your life usually has a knock-on effect on at least one of the others.

[Giatros]

Core message: Each choice has a cost and if you remember that you can be more thoughtful in your choices

[newlyborncorn]

I disagree. Everything is connected. When you improve one area of your life, you're more likely to improve upon other areas as well.

Edit: Also, energy and motivation isn't finite. You create it when you follow your heart.

Time is, of course, a factor. However, I sincerely believe that most people lack in passion, more so than in time.