work. life. balance.

Work-life balance is something I strived for, for years. In fact, I left a stable job where I had achieved much success, in order to find more work-life balance. I could not stand the feeling of the “Sunday Blues”, or living for Friday at 5 p.m. EVERY. SINGLE. WEEK. I wanted less work and more life in my life. After taking a new job providing me the flexibility to work from home, with a little extra time to pursue my passion and coaching career, I feel I have achieved more of the work-life balance I had been striving for. However, this balance is different than I expected.

When working an 8-6 corporate job, I thought work-life balance meant having time for your work and life of which was separate from each other. Once I had time to focus on my true purpose, my work and life started to blend, creating balance. The reason being? I was working on my passion and passion is a huge part of one’s life. In doing work I am passionate about I no longer feel  I am working and instead feel inspired and more playful, two feelings I wanted more of from my life.

In Ted Coine’s article “Work-Life Balance Is A Crock“, he argues, when we say “work-life balance” we are saying work is not a part of our lives. But work is a part of our lives. A big part.

Work is where we spend most of our waking hours, and what generates income for our livelihood. We should not strive to separate work and life. We should strive to find work that is pleasurable and we want to be our lives (of course in addition to other important things). Coine recommends instead of looking for work-life balance, we find our “Flow“. Flow is, “work that is so fascinating to you, so fun, that you choose to do it when you get home. That joy of work that inspires you to lose track of time, to keep you going and going, getting energy from your work (or hobby) versus burning your energy up. Flow is where we all should be”.

If you are striving for work-life balance, perhaps you can look at it differently now. Perhaps you can make a change in your life. Perhaps you can realize you are not doing the work you are meant to be doing and start on your journey to discover your purpose. No need take huge leaps and bounds immediately but recognize if this is where you are at. You can start small to find your “flow“, you can pursue the hobby you have always been interested in, or start a side business in your free time. Stay engaged, stay focused, the right work will appear in time and you will find your “flow“.