If you neglect growth in any of the three main arenas (the seven-level
approach is for graduate students!) you risk burn-out. Let's take a look
at what happens to you as you neglect health in any of the Big Three
(body, mind/career, spirit/emotion):

1) Body. Using alcohol or drugs to "help" you write or deal with stress
is a sure path to disaster. I've watched dozens of promising careers
bottom out due to this. And neglecting the body leads to early death. In
addition, you have to remember that our dysfunctions show up in our
bodies like traffic signals--everyone can see it, even if they are too
polite to say what they know. It impacts on relationships like crazy,
especially for women (sorry--that's just the truth!)

2) Mind/Career. You have to keep refining your views of the world, and
developing ways to compare your opinions with the facts and results.
Otherwise, you can become a master of Trivial Pursuit who has no
connection to reality, and can't figure out why his efforts to improve
never go anywhere. Information that cannot be applied to the betterment
of your life is USELESS. Don't be impressed by the vast fountains of
garbage knowledge spouted on TV game-shows. Concentrate on clarifying
your goals and finding people who have accomplished that which you
desire... and then model their behavior.

3) Spirit/Emotion. Nothing is as disheartening as lack of love. It takes
the juice right out of our lives. Now, that can be love of self, love of
God, or love of another... in my book, all three of these are
interrelated. Real love, healthy love, is a healing and powerful force
that makes us examine every aspect of our lives, and pushes us to be our
very very best. That makes us want only the best in our business
interactions, and clarifies our priorities in every arena.

Confusion in any one of these three arenas creates endless mischief. All
you have to do is look honestly into where you have been damaged or
strengthened in any of them, and remember what happened to the rest of
your life as a result.

-Steve Barnes.