Tuesday May 30, 2017 #892
“In the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.”
~Jack Kerouac
Ah that elusive ideal…. “work/life balance”. I personally have struggled with this my entire career. A driven professional, I’ve had to be incredibly intentional to ensure quality time with my family and have usually sacrificed my own leisure and exercise time to do so. I’ve often joked that since there can never be more than 100% of time spent between work and the rest of our life, the fact that my ratio of work/life balance has averaged 90%/10% means I’m still in balance!
But as I reflect on my own life and the lives of so many of the people I see striving for achievement and success around me, it is important to consider for all of us how to choose a bit more time with life outside of work. This can mean different things for each person. For me it has meant early morning swimming to establish an exercise routine, to add to my intentional time with my family. For you it may mean establishing “date nights” with your partner or children, taking a class, volunteering for a cause meaningful to you, taking yoga or some other physically and/or psychologically helpful activity, and more.
As we seek a bit more balance, it does not mean sacrificing our drive for success and achievement in our careers. To the contrary, providing a little breathing room has been proven to make us even more effective in our work pursuits. I’m trying. Will you join me?