Work/Life Balance is a Myth

The studies showing that multi-tasking is ineffective do not take into consideration that some people thrive on high input while others require a single focus. It harkens back the saying, “Everybody is a Genius. But If You Judge a Fish by Its Ability to Climb a Tree, It Will Live Its Whole Life Believing that It is Stupid.” If you base your study on people who function best doing one thing at a time, it will shed a negative light on multi-tasking.

Various personalities (read ADHD, mild mannered, type A, etc.) people function and excel in different environs. The work-life balance is a myth. Find work you love, surround yourself with people who understand you and balance will happen naturally.

I spent far too many years trying to make my square peg fit into a round hole. Finally I traded my 8:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. job in corporate for a 4:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M. business that is all mine, to run the way I like. It ebbs and flows to suit my ever changing lifestyle. My life is balanced because my work and life mingle and interact. Work is life and life is work. My family is supportive of my endeavors as I am of theirs. We work and play hard and are proud of one another.

This is my story and my experience. I do not expect everyone to work and play as I do. You must work and play in a way that builds you and your tribe up. If you are seeking work/life balance, you are not doing the work your brain is wired to do. (In my humble opinion.)

Careening Full Tilt

This image has been circulated around the Internets lately. My first thought was, "Yay he's back!" Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes follows the antics of six-year-old Calvin and his world-weary stuffed tiger. I hold out hope that one day Mr. Watterson will resurrect these two irreverent and intelligent characters.

My second thought is, "Baloney."

This bit of depression humor is attributed the famed street artist, "Banksy." It is a cheap shot and I hope not truly a Banksy, he is too intelligent and talented to defer to the cliche that all business people are miserable cube dwellers.

A child like Calvin would grow into an adult with passion and excitement about all that life has to offer. Sure, he will feel occasional frustration with the closed doors and dead ends created by the "establishment." But he will open those doors or turn around and find another hallway that is not blocked. 

He is not wearing that suit and carrying that briefcase to a dreary cubical job. He is on his way to a one-to-one, the bank for financing for his next big idea, to meet with a prospective client or to set up a gig for the band he manages. If he is looking down and pensively thinking of his childhood, it is because he wants to find that stuffed tiger (in his parent's attic) and place it in his office to remind him to keep seeking that next big adventure.

Calvin is not a defeated business man. Calvin is an entrepreneur. He may not be rich yet, he is probably sleep deprived and a little worried about paying the rent but he is determined, confident and HAPPY to be doing what he loves. 

Whoever created this bit of "art" may need to reevaluate their path or stop making assumptions about other people's paths. Oh, and Calvin would not be walking away from that corner. He would be careening full tilt TOWARD the corner.

Here is a Banksy that is closer to what I feel everyday as a "business person."

What I would say to me four years ago.

You want to open your own business.

What does your business look like? Do you have a plan? Are you the only one or do you have staff?

Will you be open to growth if it feels safe and possible? Are you open to taking slightly smaller leaps that may slow your growth but stabilize your company? Who do you discuss your ideas, values and plans with? Do your advisers advise, detract or just agree with everything you say?

Do you have a plan? A marketing plan, an emergency plan, a financial plan? Do you know where you are going? Do you know where you have been? Are you running to catch up, keep up or get ahead? How will you catch your breath? 

A business is a precious thing. It takes no less commitment than a marriage and may last longer than your marriage if you have not worked out the details with your spouse. It will consume your time, your thoughts, your money. It will become your world. You cannot own a business and consider it a job. It is not a job. It is an entity. It needs nurturing, pruning, care beyond your wildest dreams. 

No one will understand what you are going through, except other business owners. You will be told to get a "real" job when the debt begins to grow. You will be quizzed relentlessly about the status of your business. Three, five, ten years in, you will wonder what the hell you have gotten yourself into. You will threaten to close the doors and get that "real" job. But you won't. Your business is your identity, your center, it is what you do.

So I ask again, do you have a plan? Have you thought this through?