Everyone wants to have a great work life balance. So how do we get there?

The nature of the events industry makes it an exciting place to work. A young and dynamic environment, innovative technology, travel, creativity and lots of interesting people to meet. This also means demanding clients, challenging projects, sleepless nights and enormous levels of stress.

So how do we keep ourselves happy and healthy?

The first step is to be aware of the key elements in our lives that we need to look after to help us stay healthy and balanced. The second step is being conscious of how these elements inter-relate and inter-react. The third and most overlooked step is to maintain these elements individually attuned so that we as a whole remain balanced.

To present this process, I like to use a framework called the Wheel of Wellness. In the framework, the wheel represents our life. The spokes represent the elements in our lives, which contribute to our health and wellness such as theMind, the Body, Nutrition and Work. The hub represents our values, such as respect, honesty and commitment – that holds everything together and guides us through our life.

But why do I use a wheel? Last year, as part of my own personal health strategy, I took a sabbatical and cycled around the world with my husband. One of the amazing we visited was the Himalayas. Riding through these vast, beautiful and extreme spaces, it struck me that the journey of life was very much like cycling through the mountains: And what was critical to the journey was the condition and maintenance of the wheels on my bike.

If a spoke became loose or broke, my wheel would become “untrue “ and would start to wobble. If left, the other spokes would be impacted, the brakes would not work well and finally, the whole wheel would collapse. Not a great thing to happen when you are cycling at 5000 metres, hundreds of miles from the nearest bicycle repair shop.

So the wheel is an analogy of our lives. At times we are riding on smooth roads but at other times the road is rocky and difficult. At these times we need to be fully aware of and maintain our “spokes” to make sure the wheel stays strong.

In the Wheel of Wellness, there are seven spokes and each represents critical elements of our lives that impact our wellbeing. If one of our “spokes” becomes loose or breaks, for example, we may have a problem with our marriage, we may be organising a massive event or be travelling consistently and living away from our friends.

In these moments of stress, it is easy to let other areas in our lives go. We forget to eat healthily, we drink too much alcohol to help us relax or coffee to keep us awake. Perhaps we think we don’t have the energy to go to the gym, or we forget to spend quality time with our partners, or we survive on a few hours of sleep.

Not paying attention to the other elements of the wheel when there is already a “loose spoke”, will easily compromise the other spokes, and we risk having a bigger breakdown.

Being aware of the state of each of these “spokes” in your life and how they interrelate allows you to be more conscious of your overall well-being. Then when faced with a challenge in one area of your life, you can make informed choices to help maintain your balance by keeping your other spokes strong. This will help you to stay balanced and healthy and for you to perform optimally in the given situation.

If you would like to know more about the Wheel of Wellness or if you would like to de-stress in one of our Wellness sessions come and join me at IMEX Frankfurt.

Janet Cheung

Therapist in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Acupuncture and Energy work; a three times survivor of cancer and Co-Owner of Inner Sense Event Wellness.