Putting all your eggs in one basket is usually a big mistake. It only increases the strain on you. But varying your activities and interests helps fulfill your many needs for achievement, recognition, creative expression, and emotional support. And when one area of your life isn’t going well, you have other areas to fall back on.
Family and Friends
As “social animals,” we need to feel involved with others. Having strong connections with family and friends provides the kind of caring and support people need as an emotional buffer against hard times.
Personal Time
Everyone needs quiet time alone. Time for yourself allows you to reflect on your relationships, your career path, your financial status, your health, and the overall direction of your life. But time alone isn’t just for serious thoughts: have fun too.
Work
Work–inside and outside the home–provides a sense of productivity and achievement most people need to feel good about themselves. Participating in professional associations is one way to enhance the quality of your work.
Community Involvement
Pursuing a political cause or helping people with special needs allows you to give something back to the community. Helping others may have a unique payoff: it may help put your own life into perspective.
Spiritual Involvement
Whether you define it as belief in a higher power, connection to the earth, or simply a moral consistency in what you think, feel, and do, spiritually can provide a sense of meaning and purpose in your life.