A Balancing Act for Life
Cambridge Chronicle Book Review
Wednesday August 7, 2002
By Jim Montalto

According to Sharon Seivert's book The Balancing Act, Mastering the Five Elements of Success in Life, Relationships and Work, a natural phenomenon has occurred within our society whereby work and the activities one enjoys have become separate entities altogether. Seivert says many feel forced to jam their real lives around the edges of their paid workdays. "...a surprising number of people divide their time between the job that pays the bills and the art form, sport activity or community service that makes them feel alive." Separating our work life from the other parts that make us whole causes us to feel out of synch with ourselves and surroundings.

Some of us decide to settle on a certain lifestyle and, even though unhappy, will not reach for something better. Others believe they have no choice to change their lives to obtain a better balance, while still others fear the change or just don't know how to take the needed actions.

"Most people are off balance because they're not integrating all aspects of their lives. Their priorities are not based on their essence or who they really are deep down," says Seivert. "People may not live up to their potential, but society doesn't give them the tools to better themselves, either."

But Seivert thinks society yearns for more unity between "life" and "work." We naturally want equilibrium between our physical and mental health and material and spiritual lives while fulfilling the many demands put on our time. So Seivert created a "life formula" that she hopes readers of The Balancing Act will use to understand how all aspects of their lives are connected.

Seivert's model in The Balancing Act is a life template that rests its foundation on what can be considered humanity's building blocks of all life - air, fire, water and earth. A fifth element, essence, is at the center of the template connecting the other four. Seivert says essence, also considered an individual's soul or core identity, is the quality that is most likely missing in people's lives and work.

The other elements symbolize different aspects of our lives. Air represents one's beliefs, hopes, fears and worries, while earth corresponds to one's physical realities and limitations. Fire represents the power of one's will and Seivert describes water as "...fluid emotions and feelings that connect you with others through empathy and the ability to listen."

Readers first answer a series of self -evaluation questions in order to help them discover their essence and which elements need the most improvement. The book then guides readers through each element and how they connect to one's core values or essence regarding their personal, relationship and working parts of their lives.
The five elements are figured to form a squared circle template creating an image that helps readers better visualize the parts of tl1eir life that need better balance. She says the circle, representing heaven, and the square, earth, combine to form the same center point and intersect at each point of the square creating a sense of wholeness, easy coordination, integration and unity.

The Balancing Act evolved from Seivert's ideas she formed after studying comprehensive, holistic models used to treat people when she was a CEO of a group health plan. They also came from some very difficult and painful experiences in her life.

"I had two disastrous relationships, one personal and one professional, and 1 felt I must be doing something wrong with the way 1 was living my life," she says. "After a closer examination of my own essence or inner self, 1 realized 1 didn't value myself and just gave myself away without thinking about the damage it would do to my self-worth."

Once she saw the tremendous changes in her own life, she discussed her methods with friends, family and colleagues, and eventually incorporated them into her consulting practice.

"I was teaching a complicated process to a government organization and the team was having a hard time understanding. That's when I decided to use the balance model to explain the process."

She asked the group to examine the reason and meaning behind the new process to uncover what each person thought was its essence. Then she applied each part of the process to the four elements and explained how each element should support the main goal, or core of the process.

"I watched as the model helped unfold this complicated process and how people gradually understood. I was amazed and realized how helpful this tool could be in my consulting practice."

Since then, Seivert has been applying the balance model for the past 15 years to government and private organizations nationwide. Her most recent business venture, the Coreporation, is a Cambridge-based, management consulting rum that uses The Balancing Act model to help remedy a variety of business problems.

"Very often, organizations will have too many priorities and they will be in conflict with each other," says Patricia Campbell, The Coreporation's vice president of business development. "Senior leaders may have a clear vision of what needs to be accomplished, but they don't articulate it to the staff. This causes huge gaps in performance."

Campbell says organizations with morale and productivity is sues will also tap their consulting firm for better strategies and solutions. She says 'corporations today are facing a big challenge with loyalty, so by helping them re-examine their core values and missions, companies can re-align their procedures which will ultimately help them achieve their goal.

"When we meet with a team, we discuss why they're in business and what's important to them, " says Campbell. "Then we discuss how the decisions and actions of the four elements need to relate to each other, but also to the essence or core goal."

"When you're not tied together in terms of your identity and what you want to be, you can have a lot of conflict," says Campbell. "Most importantly, though, there are numerous applications to this model. You can use it to define business strategy or for your personal strategy and to help you define you relationships in life. The added value of The Balancing Act model is that people can apply it to other aspects of their life."

Seivert particularly enjoys helping others use the personal aspect of her model, which is why she consults writers, business entrepreneurs and anyone else looking to get a better understanding of their life, or balance between their beliefs, desires and obligations.

She works out the balance model in her personal life. When she has a decision to make or issue to work out, she goes back to the model in her book.

"When I need to make a decision I get quiet, then run through the whole process," she says. "I check in about how this decision is congruent with my values. Then I examine my hopes and fears about the decisions. How would it affect my family, friends and colleagues. Then I make a decision based on all the elements of balance."

According to Seivert, it's all about realizing one's beliefs and who they truly are, or on a business level understanding a company's mission and what it stands for. Based on that, one can examine how they act in their relation- ships, work life and other parts of their life to make sure they are in line with those core values.

"It's all about finding your essence, the true center of who the person is, or on an organizational level, it's about discovering or rediscovering the values and missions that companies base their business on," she says.

Seivert says she's not surprised if people think her life strategy is obvious and logical.

"When people become clear about the core of who they are, they can balance their lives easier;" she says. "But most of us don't have a strong center. So this is a formula to help people align their behavior with the best of who they are."

While unfolding the strategy itself may not be difficult, realizing one's core values and then making the changes to align with those values is the real challenge in life.

"Changing is very difficult to do, yet very heroic. Acting according to what makes you happy is an easier way to live. But it takes some courage to stand out side your life and go through the journey to make those changes."

Seivert's book, The Balancing Act, can be found in bookstores throughout Cambridge and Boston. For more information on her personal and business consulting practice she can be contacted at sseivert@ thecoreporation.com or 617-441-9675.