Have you ever heard someone say, “I have to focus more on my work/life balance?” Perhaps that someone was you? But have you ever stopped to consider if these two factors are separated, then what the what the hell am I doing with my life?
We usually spend a minimum of 40 hours a week at work. That’s a quarter of our entire week and if we are lucky enough to get 8 hours of sleep, that’s over a third of our waking lives!
While some of us may not feel so alive at work make no mistake, you are living. Time ticks on regardless of how you spend it. So, we need to start rethinking our time spending habits before there’s none left.
First of all, if you are even thinking about a work/life balance, that’s a red flag that something is out of alignment. Something is unfulfilling.
Secondly, until someone returns from the dead to tell us what the other side is like, this one life may be all we have so let’s consolidate work and life into one single life: your life.
And thirdly, whatever is throwing this balance off is likely invisible to you. David Foster Wallace, for his 2005 Kenyon College commencement speech, said, “There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says ‘Morning, boys. How’s the water?’ And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes ‘What the hell is water?’”
The issue, whatever it is, is like water to the fish. And just like Wallace’s parable, it takes an older fish – or, in this case a coach perhaps – to help you see how the water you’re swimming in impacts you, helping you use it to your advantage.
But that’s getting ahead of myself and starting to feel like an ad. My point here is simple: as long as we pretend that we have a work life and a real life, we are going to spend a significant portion of our time on this earth unfulfilled. Really ask yourself what a third of your life is worth, especially given that we have no idea how much time we really have. And if you’d like to chat, let’s talk. I’d be happy to listen and help if I can.
But the first step is seeing the water! Simply waking up to the realization that you’ve been unconsciously underutilizing a third of your life is no small step. And once you realize that, you can stop swimming upstream and start surfing!
We usually spend a minimum of 40 hours a week at work. That’s a quarter of our entire week and if we are lucky enough to get 8 hours of sleep, that’s over a third of our waking lives!
While some of us may not feel so alive at work make no mistake, you are living. Time ticks on regardless of how you spend it. So, we need to start rethinking our time spending habits before there’s none left.
First of all, if you are even thinking about a work/life balance, that’s a red flag that something is out of alignment. Something is unfulfilling.
Secondly, until someone returns from the dead to tell us what the other side is like, this one life may be all we have so let’s consolidate work and life into one single life: your life.
And thirdly, whatever is throwing this balance off is likely invisible to you. David Foster Wallace, for his 2005 Kenyon College commencement speech, said, “There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says ‘Morning, boys. How’s the water?’ And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes ‘What the hell is water?’”
The issue, whatever it is, is like water to the fish. And just like Wallace’s parable, it takes an older fish – or, in this case a coach perhaps – to help you see how the water you’re swimming in impacts you, helping you use it to your advantage.
But that’s getting ahead of myself and starting to feel like an ad. My point here is simple: as long as we pretend that we have a work life and a real life, we are going to spend a significant portion of our time on this earth unfulfilled. Really ask yourself what a third of your life is worth, especially given that we have no idea how much time we really have. And if you’d like to chat, let’s talk. I’d be happy to listen and help if I can.
But the first step is seeing the water! Simply waking up to the realization that you’ve been unconsciously underutilizing a third of your life is no small step. And once you realize that, you can stop swimming upstream and start surfing!