I would like you to engage in a brief thought exercise with me.  Think about the last few days or weeks…maybe the last six months or a year or so…even the last 5 years or more. Just think about a meaningful period in your professional life.  As you remember that time, I want to reflect on your decisions.

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How many times did you miss the birthday of a loved one, shortened or worked during a vacation, or skipped out on pizza night because something at work required your attention? How often at home in the evening or on the weekend did you find yourself ruminating about a work problem instead of being present with your partner, your child, or a good book? Finally, how frequently did you feel worn down or depressed about trying to meet your work responsibilities while still maintaining some semblance of a non-work existence? 

If you are anything like me, and millions of other professionals, many of these examples – or versions of them - sound familiar. No doubt, you will have little trouble remembering that you have made many of these same decisions yourself. We call them compromises or sacrifices for success, but whatever the name, the truth is we do this all the time. But, if I asked you, do you value work more than you value your health, your partner, or your children, the vast majority would not hesitate to say of course not! Yet so many of us make decisions, time and time again, in which we sacrifice our health and well-being, our family, and our relationships, to pursue some work-related goal. This is a problem. This is a health crisis! Living Life in the Balance is about confronting this problem, understanding the causes of it, reevaluating the way we think about work, life, family, and health, and making decisions that support whole-life success. I invite you to join me on this journey. It will not be comfortable, but the reward is vastly improved personal and familial health, more fulfilling relationships, and life success that includes but is not solely defined by how productive you are at work. It is time to Live Life in the Balance.

Before going further, I need to be honest about something. This is not an easy path. We face pressures from all directions to value ourselves based on our professional success. Organizations naturally reward productivity, but more than that, our leaders regularly provide us with opportunities to excel – so long as we are willing to sacrifice time, rest, and wellbeing to do so. But it is not just employers; the idea that our worth as a person comes from who we are at work permeates our societal mindset. One of the first three questions we ask someone new is What do you do?  and then we define their value based on their answer. Perhaps most insidious, we value ourselves based on this as well. The reason we are continuously willing to make decisions that sacrifice our health, rest, and family, is because in our minds our self-worth is predominantly tied up in being seen as professionally successful. As productive. These days, the most common response to How are you? is some form of pleasantry, great, doing good, alright, etc.,  followed by, busy…just busy. We wear it as a badge of honor because we know that if we are not busy, then we must be lazy. What does all this mean? It means that the change starts with you and your willingness to assess your life priorities and to examine your own decisions. It also means that the antagonistic forces are everywhere – at work, across society, among our friends, and yes, even within ourselves. We have a lot of work to do, but it is work that must be done. 

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