TCFBO #004: Work Life Balance is a Myth

Read Time: 2 minutes

The big problem with the phrase “work life balance” is that it implies there is a set of scales with work on one side and life on the other, and your goal is to get them in perfect equilibrium.

This thinking is flawed.

Your work, or your business, is not separate to your life.

Your work is a part of your life.

Just as relationships, health and other interests are a part of your life.

If your work stops, you can still carry on with your life. Whereas, if your life stops, there’s no way you’ll be doing any more work.

So thinking in terms of “work life balance” immediately sets you up for failure as it’s something that cannot be achieved in any meaningful way.

Instead, we prefer to think in terms of “work life alignment”.

Work life alignment is where the vision you have for your work, or your business, is aligned with the vision you have for your life.

You see, if you view your life and business as two separate entities, you can end up setting goals for your life and business that end up pulling you in different directions.

You may not notice it at first but, as you get further and further down the path, cracks can start to appear in your relationships, your finances, your health and your business.

Often this first shows up as a feeling of guilt for not spending enough time at home with loved ones or not being present when you are with them because you’re busy thinking about all the things you’ve got to get done when you’re back at work.

Whereas, if you get clear on what it is you’d love from your life first and then you get clear on what you’d love from your business, you’ll end up aligning the vision for your business with the vision you have for your life.

Which means goals you set in the business (so long as they are aligned with your business vision) will automatically be taking you towards your life vision as everything tiers down from that.

As a business owner you have the opportunity to create a business that adds value to your life and to the lives of your family, your team and your customers.

If you’re doing what you love in your business and the business is enabling you to live a life you love, it doesn’t matter whether you are spending an equal and balanced amount of time between work and life.

What matters is that your work and your life are aligned.

So we encourage you to check your business is aligned to what you desire for your life and, if it isn’t, think about what steps you could take this week to start brining it into line.

Let us know how you get on and we’ll see you next week.

Paul & Philly

Whenever you’re ready, there are two ways we can help you:

1. To discover the method we use to create a life and business we love, just grab a copy of “Backwards Planning - A Simple Method to Move You and Your Business Forward” from Amazon.

2. If you'd like to work one to one with us through the entire “Backwards Planning” process outlined in the book, you can apply to join The Clear Focus Business Academy.

The first step is to book a facilitated Life Vision Session which we conduct over Zoom. This session will not only give you clarity on what you want from your life but will give you the opportunity to experience how we work and ensure we're a good fit for each other before deciding whether The Clear Focus Business Academy is right for you. It comes with a 100% money back guarantee, so if you're not entirely satisfied, simply let us know at the end of the session and we'll issue a full refund.