Many people that I meet are on a quest for balance. They believe that balance is the ultimate goal, the elixir of life. We need to re-examine this. I think we have got it wrong.

What is balance? By definition, it’s the state of zero motion. Calm. Stillness. Going nowhere. Staying in one spot.

Yet the people who seek balance are often looking for growth, adventure and change. The very opposite of zero motion and standing still.

In order to succeed and reach our highest goals, we need to focus. Focused attention is what achieves success. On our business, on our sport, on our studies. Cause and effect. As any Olympian or Nobel Prize winner will tell you, their success was achieved because their life was out of balance. Sometimes for years, decades, or a lifetime. Everything was focused on their goal. They lived and breathed their goal.

Balance is something we can have when we come to rest, at the end of our journey, once we achieve the success we seek. No gold medal or Nobel Prize was achieved without the imbalance created by dedicated focus. The higher your goal, the more you need to dedicate energy to achieving success.

It’s time to embrace imbalance and use it to achieve great things.