In my article ‘Can Entrepreneurs Become Too Obsessed? l spoke about the importance of balance. Since that posting I have received a number of questions about achieving balance. I also noted an this article “Why Work-Life Balance Is A Load Of Crap” in Fast Company so lets consider both the questions and this article.
Its pretty obvious from the Fast Company article title that the author is not a fan of the concept of work-life balance. She goes on to explain in her article that such a principle is just not achievable but provides three tools to manage what she refers to as the work/life mash-up:
- Work-Life Boundaries: setting boundaries can help you achieve more control of the various responsibilities that tend to take over your life;
- Work-Life Negotiation: Life does come at us in equal parts and there will be periods of time of intense deadlines;
- Body-Mind Balance: Instead of balancing out your personal and professional life, try focusing on and balancing out your health and energy.
The three tools are great suggestions but this is not what I was trying to get across by my reference to balance but there are connections.
Let me try to explain what I mean by balance a bit more. Quoting from my earlier article “every business person needs to live a life where their commitment to the business is balanced with family, health, spirituality and some real self-time. There are seasons in which you throw yourself totally into your business, their are seasons of rest and seasons of reenergising yourself with the passion and creativity that keeps you going.”
By balance I do not mean an equality of parts but rather a harmony between and across those parts. However you may divide the aspects of your life up (e.g. work, family, self) it is not possible to give each part an equal portion of time each day. To try to do so would be madness as the author above suggests.
But there is a strength to be achieved through the way you weave these aspects (cords of your life) together. This will vary across days and seasons and will vary for each person depending on where they are in their life and what they are seeking to accomplish. This is where the principle of harmony is far more useful and powerful than balance. Harmony is all about the rhythm you bring to your life, how you blend all those parts of your life that make up your days and who you are. They are physical, of the mind, relational, emotional and, for me, spiritual. It is the work you do, your attitude towards that work, your belief system, who you connect with each day, how you nourish and strength your health, body, mind and emotions, and how you give thanks for each day (attitude of gratitude).
By analogy consider a finely tuned engine. If all the parts are tuned and running on the right fuel, then it roars into life and charges forward. Unfortunately you are far more complex than a mechanical engine so tuning you is a lot more difficult. But harmony for me is the answer, achieve a harmony in your life and feed yourself the right fuel (purpose and gratitude is the right fuel) and your performance will exceed your wildest dreams.
