Lifestyle Balance Sheet

Everyone should periodically evaluate their lifestyle's balance sheet to determine their Net Lifestyle Satisfaction (NLS). Your lifestyle is composed of everything you do. It is a collection of all the activities and places that define who you are as a person. Your lifestyle has a strong emotional impact on you. If your lifestyle's net effect leaves you feeling bad about yourself then changes in it are needed. If your lifestyle leaves you feeling good, then all is right in the world. Your task in this chapter is to discover how your lifestyle makes you feel. Evaluating your lifestyle is a lot like doing some spring cleaning. Things need to be sorted out. What you want is kept and what you no longer want is discarded. Here's a step-by-step plan that will help you do this.

Your lifestyle is composed of several major parts: work, family, friends, intimate relationships, recreational activities (and energy boosters), self-development, money, future plans, spiritual connections, and values.

To evaluate each part of your lifestyle we've developed a system of worksheets that will walk you through the evaluation process. Each worksheet will determine:

1. What is included in that part of your lifestyle.
2. How much true satisfaction you get from your lifestyle.
3. How important your lifestyle is to you.
4. What it costs you to develop and maintain it.
5. What you would like to change about it if anything.
6. How important making such changes is to you right now.

You will use a separate worksheet (you may print them and or fill them out online) to evaluate each part of your lifestyle. You will need a calculator to do the math (or online the website does it for you). To preserve complete confidentiality none of this information is permanently stored. This of course means, that you must print out the information if you want to have a record to refer back to. Once you log out or leave the site for a longer period any information you filled in is gone. If you don't understand something, ask your counselor or contact us by phone at (888) 8-Care4U.

The first worksheet will help you evaluate the work part of your lifestyle.