You are someone who loves your work. You have been known to work an eighty-hour week from time to time. You are passionate about your business, and many people don’t understand. They warn you that you lack balance. You are a workaholic. They tell you that you are crazy to ever work more than 40 hours a week. They insist that your vacations (a minimum of two full weeks per year) must be taken completely detached from work and business. You don’t typically do that, and you feel guilty.
As a business coach I help people get free from the tyranny of too many hours at work. If you are “addicted” to work and can’t seem to relax and enjoy life, I can help you change that. However, if you have a clear handle on your priorities, responsibilities, and relationships, and prefer to work late and odd hours, that is not immoral!
Consider harmony versus balance. It’s a distinction that I learned from one of my coaches, Steve Chandler.
“Balance” carries the idea of a fragile, delicate equality. It is achieved when everything is equal and standardized. Life balance is a concept often rooted in people pleasing. Frankly, I believe the attempt to achieve life balance is precarious, boring, and impossible to maintain.
In contrast, “harmony” carries the idea of a beautiful expression in diversity and variety. In music, it includes highs, lows, loud, and soft and is orchestrated to create a wonderful artistic tension and resolution.
A harmonized life could include some eighteen-hour intense workdays and some six-week vacations as well. Such a life is created and includes a diversity of pursuits, activities, and relationships. It includes plenty of rest and relaxation, and some real rigorous intensity and extreme as well.
I am proposing that you dump the guilt trip for not achieving so-called life balance and instead create an amazing harmonious life filled with highs and lows, soft easy gentle relaxed times, and intense passionate stressful deadline adrenaline experiences as well. Variety is the spice of life! Clear communication and agreements will make it work with the others in your life.
I challenge you to drop the pursuit of life balance and replace it with an amazing created harmonious life of service!
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