“There’s no such thing as work – life balance. There are work – life choices, and you make them, and they have consequences.”
– Jack Welch, speaker, author and long-time CEO of General Electric
After nearly fifteen years of struggling with the issue of balance, now I discover that, according to Welch, the struggle comes from chasing the unattainable. It might be potato / potatho (or tomato / tomahto, for that matter), but Welch’s point is candidly a realistic angle from which to approach the topic. Balance involves counter-weights, and on either side of the “scales” are simply decisions. And the decisions we have to make regarding what portion of life gets consumed by our work are not probably as complex as we want to believe they are.
It comes down to deciding, and whether we buy in to complexity or simplicity, what will be the things upon which we base our decisions?
Here’s one formula that seems to work. For me. Even though I lose sight of it too often…
If it’s Faith, it goes first.
If it’s family, it goes second, unless Faith is not at issue, and then family goes first.
If it’s financial, it stacks up somewhere after those two.
I’m not saying that’s how you should rank them. I’m saying it’s how I should — and when I am feeling out of balance the issue’s not whether balance is attainable or not, it’s that the consequences of my decisions, and their dishonoring of my formula are eating at me.
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