We have all heard the phrase work-life balance used for years. It was a well-meaning phrase trying to help busy people ensure they spend sometime with their families, friends and other interests.
The problem with that word picture is it creates an imaginary scale that you put your work on one side and your life on the other. The goal is to somehow keep them balanced. I have come to believe the phrase is misleading and tells us if we need to work a little harder to get to where we want, then we have to play a little harder to stay in balance. At some point you run out of time.
The other problem is they are not completely separate blocks of time. Many times in a day your work life and your personal life cross paths. They are not two separate things. They are both part of your life.
I would like to suggest what busy people should focus on is a balanced life that includes all things their life consists of. Work is a necessary part of our life. However, when it becomes the overwhelming part of our life, we are not really living life, we become task managers accomplishing things that will have little significance when we get to the end of life.
A concept I heard once makes more sense to me. We should think of the 24 hours we have each day as currency that we are investing; 24 coins if you will. This is the only currency we have that once spent we can never get back. It is the only currency with you from birth to death. How we spend it will determine the legacy we leave. How we spend it will create the memories other people have of us.
How do you want to be remembered by your family and friends? Will it be how much you did in your business or how much money you left your kids or the time spent enjoying your family and friends? Will they remember your wise counsel or, because you never had time to talk to them, will they not be able to even remember your opinion on matters of life?
Harry Chapin had a great song, Cats in the Cradle. It is that story that so many of us live. My challenge to you is to think about how you are investing your “24 coins” each day. Will it take you to the place you want to be remembered or will you mostly be forgotten as a person no one really knew?
Some of our 24 coins are already assigned. We need around 8 hours of sleep to be at the best mental capacity we can be. We are going to spend time eating, grooming, etc. It is the rest of your waking hours that you need to create a balanced life. How many “coins” do you need to invest in work activity to support your life style you desire? How many are invested in family, friends or hobbies?
We can either let life drag us along filling our days with business, or we can be purposeful about how we spend this resource we will never get back. I believe a balanced life is much more satisfying than a life spent reaching for the unreachable “gold ring”.
Christian Life Coach 