Growth is Work Life Balance - Happiness is Balance

By Mark Kaplan / March 15, 2020

Work life balance could be two things. It could be the feeling your life is fulfilling and you are experiencing the feelings you desire. It could be getting enough free time to recover from the stress you have to face in your work and/or personal life.

No one decides if you have work life balance other than you. Work life balance for you is defined by you. Most likely, no two people experience it the same way. Its almost like DNA.

How Does Growth Create the Right Feelings?

There are certain behaviors that can be categorized as growth because of the feelings they stimulate in the brain. Scientists define happiness as dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin. Scientists define stress as cortisol, adrenaline, and norepinephrine. Balance is having more happiness than stress.

Growth stimulates happiness. Do people with work life balance feel happy? Most likely they do. Do people who feel they don’t have work life balance feel happy? Most likely they don’t. Chances are people without work life balance are not living life on their terms. They don’t have feelings of autonomy. They don’t feel they have independence. Growth is bringing your life under your control.

What Are Some Growth Behaviors?

Those proven to stimulate the scientists’ definition of happiness brain chemicals are learning, creating, contributing, and exercise. In each category of behavior there has to be challenge. The brain has been guiding our behavior since our species’ inception to help us survive. We could accurately say that our brain and Nature at the highest level have the same objective. When we self-destruct, it is in our free will but not an objective of Nature.

Think about behaviors that would enhance our survival, that of our family, our community and the planet. Think about the behaviors that generate stronger genes. Nature and our stimulation of happiness brain chemicals will have the same objective.

Will Negative Behaviors Give Us Work Life Balance?

When we are stressed, our most driving objective is to get relief. If we don’t have positive “go to” behaviors in our routine, we will most likely seek negative growth behaviors. What are they? Cigarettes, alcohol, overeating, sugar, drugs, pills, shopping, gambling, anger, and distractions like TV, web surfing, phone addiction, and sedentary behavior.

Whereas stress creates certain hormones, negative behaviors can interrupt stress with happiness brain chemicals just like positive behaviors. The problem with negative behaviors for stress relief is they likely cause a downward spiral into more habits that result in stress. Sedentary behavior, poor health, chronic pain, and depression often as a result of negative behaviors create their own atmosphere of unhappiness.

Lead Your Life with Keystone Habits

If you don’t engage in positive behaviors, begin one. Countless studies have shown that Improving nutrition, beginning an exercise program, engaging in learning or creativity, or increasing your contribution in a passion, have all been found to begin changing all our habits.

Work life balance and happiness are both a predominance of positive behaviors that outweigh the influences of our troubles. Positive behavior break up stress and often minimize their impact on our outlook. Resilience is an example of an attitude that counters troubles. Gratitude, spirituality, and love also are strong positive attitudes that block stress.

Happiness can be a choice. It can be a lifestyle. It is already in your brain. You just have to stimulate it.

Read Habits of a Happy Brain by Loretta Graziano Breuning Ph.D

Get a Free Course “Happiness is Balance”. Ten easy to read chapters on scientifically proven behaviors that create happiness.