You’ve been lied to.For years you’ve been fed a message suggesting that the ideal relationship between your work life and your personal life is one of balance. An implied 1:1 ratio.This ratio is not only generally impossible, but it completely betrays your own preferred mix.I’ve talked to so many people who feel a strong sense of tension about this relationship. Not because they hate how much they are working, but because they enjoy working more (or less) but are convinced they should be pursuing balance.If they are thriving in an imbalanced equation, they feel tension because they believe they are doing it wrong.Here’s my take: it’s not about balance, it’s about proportion.Your desired proportion will look different from mine. Your desired proportion will change over time. Your desired proportion has nothing to do with what everyone else is doing.The goal is not to match a social consensus for how much it’s okay to work (or not work), but to be checking in with yourself about your desired proportion in a given season and how to engineer circumstances that honor it.OPPORTUNITY FOR ACTION: Consider how your work fits into your life at the moment. Does it make sense for you? Do you want to incorporate new boundaries or do you want to spend some extra time working on an exciting professional pursuit? Take responsibility for understanding your desired proportion and acting in ways that get you more of what you want. My free PDF, “The 5 Secrets of Impossibly Effective Teams,” will show you the simple leadership moves that help teams unlock their full potential and deliver outsized results—without burning out. Grab your copy now at geoffwelch.com/secrets
