Money will provide you with means to live comfortably and own a nice house. All you have to do is set a goal as to level of comfort and level of home. For instance, you might want to be secure enough to pay your bills and be able to go out every weekend. The house might be a two story, 2500sf beauty and have certain characteristics. You now have a set of goals for which money becomes important. With that, it is important to determine your personal goals in life, regardless of finances, and then determine finances required to meet those goals. Your goals for fulfillment should always come first. The money is simply a means to reach those goals.

However, you might feel, as many do, that you are in a pickle with regards to your finances. You have doctor bills, lawyer bills, and myriad other obligations. The same still applies. Of course, your objective in life is not to pay off debts. Paying off debts is ancillary to your primary goals involved in living your life. Once you determine your goals in life, you will be able to figure out ways that are essential to clearing these debts and moving forward to your goals.

* Extracurricular

Extracurricular activities are a very important part of a whole life. You must to have something else to do besides going to work, coming home, and just hanging out. Your additional activities should provide you with happy, healthy satisfaction for your mind and soul.

In my family, my wife and I share our time. We are both ambitious souls with very creative minds. We both want to do so many things and it is essential that we allow ourselves time to do so. We have managed to organize our lives such that, our work allows us to bring in money and our hobbies allow us to be happily creative. However, we enjoy our hobbies together. My wife sings and I produce her music. I write screenplays and books and she adds emotion and her creative critiquing skills. Since we enjoy our hobbies together, we are able to travel and enjoy boating at lake together and still do things that keep us happy and creative, separately.

Don't think reaching this point was a simple task. We had some serious bouts and discussions to understand each other's needs and wants in life. As we grew together, we came to understand that we can enjoy ourselves together and separately without taking away from each other's time yet adding to each other's success. How does this happen? It takes patience and an understanding of what you want out of life. You and your partner must know each other's needs and directions before you can meet in middle and come up with a life plan together.

--- ... somebody's gotta do it! ---

Once you take stock in your life and examine various aspects that are throwing your life out of balance, you have two choices: fix them or get rid of them. You might feel that tossing something out of your life is a bit extreme, but consider situation. If you're fiddling with a minor obstruction that doesn't somehow benefit your life, then why are you doing it?

To begin to have a fulfilling life, your general priorities should be:

1. to satisfy your basic needs of food, water, and air; 2. to satisfy your needs of security and safety; 3. to satisfy your need for love and to be needed; 4. to satisfy your own self-esteem needs; and 5. to reach a point where you can begin to examine and experience your own personal dreams and desires.

I once worked with a young man who was a "fixer." His goal in life was to make sure that everyone around him was satisfied and moving in right direction. He would help his friends and family to point of utter exhaustion. I asked him why he did this and his reply was, "as long as everything around me is good, I am good." His problem was that everyone around him was happy and moving forward in their lives, with his help. But, he never moved forward or did anything in direction of fulfilling his own life.

His situation was that he was stuck and didn't know how to get it in gear. So, to make sure that his little, quiet, corner of world was safe and happy, he made sure that everyone else was safe and happy. But, his balance came from external world. However, as we examined his situation, he found that his life was literally out of balance. His entire existence was lived through eyes of others and he had nothing to show for it when everyone else moved on to other things.

The point is that you cannot get involved in things that do not fit into your basic needs and direction. You must balance your life such that those elements in your life focus on your fulfillment to help you eventually reach a level where you can pursue your personal desires.

--- What's next? ---

Balance is idea of bringing all aspects of your life together in such a way as they all contribute to helping you reach your goals. Balance can happen automatically if you can set a vision and understand what it takes to get there. It can be a miraculous occurrence where all aspects of your life just line up to aim you in direction of your desires. It can also be a struggle if you don't know what you want out of life or where you want to go. Take control of your life and manage aspects of it such that you are living one, big, fulfilling life instead of a bunch of small interconnected and interfering lives.

Don't expect to receive a pat on back for a job well done. It is easier for everyone else in your life that you remain out of balance so that they can feel in-balance. It is essential that you learn to look within yourself for your own gratification and congratulations.

It is your own inner demons brought on through years of training by unbalanced people and environments that have given you knowledge to place yourself where you are now. Now, it's time to rid yourself of those old demons and move forward with your new, balanced life way you feel it should be lived.

Most of us have made some commitments for which we put forth a small effort on a regular basis. For example, things like taking a bath/shower and brushing our teeth are often taken for granted. However, those things can be thought of as a commitment to good grooming and proper hygiene.

Marriage definitely takes involvement and commitment. You can be involved just by signing a marriage license and saying some vows. For marriage to be a lasting success, it takes a commitment from both people. It means working together toward shared goals, communicating with each other, and resolving occasional conflicts that may happen. It may take a little effort, but personal rewards are well worth it.

A commitment isn't something to fear, nor does it mean that your entire life must revolve around commitment. You simply direct some time and effort toward accomplishing your goal. You may have several goals in your personal and professional life. Things such as striving for a promotion, improving your golf game, losing that extra twenty pounds, and being a better spouse or parent are examples of worthy goals. It takes a commitment of both time and effort to reach each milestone.

Involvement and commitment are also important when it comes to business opportunities; especially network marketing (MLM). You need to put forth some effort to really make things happen, no matter how much hype you hear about your downline being built for you. When you look at an opportunity, try to find out level of commitment that is needed to reach a desired level of success.

People who are successful in their chosen endeavors agree that we can all get more out of life when a little bit of involvement and commitment is applied to things we consider to be important.

Start making improvements today by deciding which things are most important to you and make a commitment to do those things better. Often, just a little more effort will produce tremendous results.