Personal State of Emergency

In politics, a State of Emergency is a government declaration that extends the authority of government to a scope beyond its normal bounds. In effect, a democratic country can enforce dictatorial policies to respond to a threat.

This is something we’re hearing more about in recent years because of the threat of terrorism.

What distinguishes a democratic country in a state of emergency and a dictatorship is that a dictatorship is in a constant state of emergency, whereas democratic countries can only go into a state of emergency for a limited period of time.

So what has this got to do with personal growth?

“State of emergency” and “dictatorship” are useful terms to use when trying to understand how we can achieve balance. Our lives involve a number of areas, such as professional work, family time, etc (I will reveal the Seven Life Areas when I launch the Personal Growth Map E-book :D).

When we struggle to achieve balance, we are essentially giving one area of our lives more time and attention than it deserves, because it is taking our time and attention away from all other areas. This is how one area of our lives can act as a dictatorship. It prevents us from having balance, from giving our loved ones the attention they deserve, from pursuing our interests, etc.

However, it is sometimes unrealistic to expect to have balance when facing an emergency. To strive for balance would mean that you are not giving the emergency the attention it deserves, because it now deserves more attention than all other life areas. This isn’t to say that the other life areas should be completely ignored when faced with an emergency, but that they would not receive as much attention as you would like to give them.

When you are starting a business, for example, there are many, many things you will need to manage in order to set up a stable business. You cannot prolong the time you take to address these issues, because you might be in desperate need of cash. Therefore, you need to enter a Personal State of Emergency in order to effectively manage this life area.

This means that you knowingly go into a state of imbalance, grant a single life area more attention, while reducing your commitment to all other life areas. But this state of imbalance can only be done temporarily, until you manage the emergency, and can return to normal life.

What’s important about distinguishing between a personal state of emergency and a personal dictatorship is that you do not feel guilty for being in a state of imbalance when the circumstances you are in demand that you give more attention to a single life area. If this imbalance happens to be a chronic situation, then you are living in a personal dictatorhip, which isn’t a pleasant way to live.

Make sure you limit your states of imbalance to definite time periods so that you can manage your emergencies and get back to normal life.