Work/Life Balance

Work/Life Balance

I recently was asked to join a podcast episode about work/life balance which prompted me to share my thoughts with you. Work/Life balance is something that is needed by all but ignored by many. Some ignore it out of fear, others simply not knowing any better. Balance is not always 50/50. As it pertains to work/life, it’s what you allow. You get a job or start a business to be able to live your life to the fullest but the need of the money that job or business provides tends to have you look the other way when it comes to living your life to the fullest. You know, so you can keep working and be able to live your life to the fullest. What’s wrong with this situation? It seems like you are chasing your tail. It’s a never-ending cycle. Well, it can be, but the situation is just lacking one thing: Priority. Blog done, right? Well, no. That is just the umbrella dilemma of work/life balance. Let’s get into a couple of issues.

Let’s discuss the people who ignore work life balance out of fear. What are the common fears? Losing their job. Looking like they are not a team player. Admitting to themselves they aren’t the best spouse or parent. Admitting to themselves that outside of work there may be no life to go to. All justifiable reasons to be afraid but in the long run ignoring something doesn’t get rid of the fear or the problem behind it. We are pro-addressing problems here at itsdrills.com so if you are new, welcome. Let’s address these fears. Losing your job because you want a life outside of work is a yellow flag. (Yes, I just made that up. Yes, that reminded me of football too.) Not the same as a red flag meaning quit but proceed to question. Is this job/work providing a reward that will make up for the time I’m trading for it? Will it pay off anytime soon? Will I have any regrets? Answer these and address the problem(s). The “Not being a team player” stigma scares you? Simply make a choice. Which team comes first? This crosses over into the last 2 fears mentioned. If you have a spouse/family at home, you need to make a choice? I’m not here to judge but one team must be second. Once a choice is made you need to understand that by default you will lack as a team player on the second team. If you don’t have a spouse/family, you must decide not to have one or understand that a hard choice is in your future as soon as you think of settling down.

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In closing, I understand I glossed over some heavy stuff, but I write this in hopes to start an internal conversation or a continued one with family/friends not to finish the conversation. 75/25, 60/40, 90/10 all add up to 100 which is all you can give. If you were one of the people mentioned earlier who didn’t know any better, now you do. You can decide to allow your career to dominate. That is fine but make it a conscious decision. Understand the pros and cons. You can choose the life side to be dominant but know that there will be people who don’t, and they will be more successful career-wise 9 times out of 10. You’ll have family experiences and memories that they couldn’t imagine because they miss most of them. Life is full of hard choices. Your work/life balance is one of the hardest ones. Make a choice then make the best of it. Don’t be the guy in the picture. Time waits for no one.

Food for thought…. You do the dishes.