How Do You Find The Balance Between Being Careful and Careless?

“Don’t be careless about yourselves–on the other hand not too careful. Live well but do not flaunt it. Live well but do not flaunt it. Laugh a little and teach your men to laugh–get good humor under fire–war is a game that’s played with a smile. If you can’t smile, grin. Keep out of the way until you can.” -Winston Churchill

Keep this in mind when it comes to trying to find your balance between being careful and being careless.

In life you will find that a person will either be too careful or too careless about various things in life. It is hard from the outside to determine whether a person should be careful or careless about certain things because we either do not know all of the circumstances or we cannot truly predict what will happen as a result of their decisions and actions.

Today’s inspiration is about exploring the two ends of the spectrum and finding the right balance for you. We will discuss the following:

1. What is the definition of careful?

2. What is the definition of careless?

3. What goes wrong with being too careful or too careless?

4. What are four steps towards finding the right balance between being careful and careless?

Now that we have the questions, let’s find the answers!

What is the definition of careful?

Merriam-Webster defines careful as:

1. Using care.

2. Made, done, or said with care.

When you are careful, you are doing what you can make sure whatever you make, do, or say is done with the safety and respect of yourself and others.

What is definition of careless?

Merriam-Webster defines careless as:

1. Not using care.

2. Not careful.

3. Done, made, or said without enough thought or attention.

When you are careless, caution is thrown to the wind and you make, do, or say things without having any fear or doubt about how you or someone else may take it.

What goes wrong with being too careful or too careless?

There are times in your life where you find yourself having to be careful or careless. In some cases, you can be either too careful or too careless depending on the situation and that could prove to be costly. I have created a chart for you to view the issues on both sides of being either too careful or too careless. You can also click on the link below to download and share the chart:

Too Careful or Too Careless

What are four steps towards finding the balance between being careful and careless?

You can find your balance between being careful and being careless, but it will take some work on your behalf. Here are four steps that can help you find that balance:

1. Realize that you are both careful and careless.

   • Everything starts with you admitting that you can be careful and careless.
   • Understand that you do have moments where there is a careful and careless moment attached to it.

     • Example #1: You deciding to discipline your child.

       • Careful side is that you want teach your child to do right and stay out of trouble.
       • Careless side is that you may not care how the child likes the type of discipline you are giving.

     • Example #2: You deciding to say no to someone.

       • Careful side is that you are protecting yourself from saying yes to someone or something that goes against your rationale.
       • Careless side is that you do not care at the time how people may feel about your decision because it is your life.

     • Example #3: You want to speak your mind on politics.

       • Careful side is that you want to convince people on making the right decision using facts and data.
       • Careless side is that you may not care how the other side may feel about their point of view.
   • Realizing that you are a careful and careless person can help you begin to determine where you can find a balance.

2. Look at each situation differently.

   • How you choose to use your thoughts, words, and actions can vary from situation to situation due to the circumstances.
   • Pay attention to each situation separately and determine based on what you know and/or feel should you be careful or careless.
   • When you can look at each situation differently, you can avoid generalizing situations and moments.

3. Trust yourself.

   • Inside, you have the ability to know when to be careful and when to be careless, but you do not believe in yourself due to your past decisions and sabotage from yourself and others.
   • Trust in your abilities and have the confidence to make the decision to either be careful or careless regardless of what the future holds for you.
   • When you trust in yourself, you can make the decision to be careful or careless.

4. Learn from your careful and careless sides.

   • You have more than enough experiences in your life to draw from where you have chosen to be either careful or careless in your life.
   • Take what you like from those moments and try to mesh them together in order to help you find balance in what you think, say, and do.
   • When you learn from both your careful and careless sides, you will become a better person for it.

I encourage you to look at the moments where you have experienced being careful and careless at the same time. You will find that being careful and being careless is something you do at the same time. There is no real trick or secret to doing something that you already do on a daily basis. You just got to realize it so that you can establish a balance you can live with. Let’s remember that the sooner you realize you can be careful and careless at the same time, you can find the right balance necessary to be successful in your life.

I have six questions that I would love for you to give some thought. Feel free to answer and comment below:

1. Can you recall a moment where you demonstrated be careful and careless at the same time?

2. What made you careful and careless in that moment?

3. Do you describe yourself as careful, careless, or both?

4. What are you doing to find that balance between being careful and careless in your life?

5. What are the results of you finding your balance?

6. What would you recommend to someone who is trying to find the right balance between being careful and careless?

Your answers and comments can help yourself or someone else find out that we all have moments where we can be both careful and careless. What matters is how we learn from those experiences and become better as a result.