Performance is one thing, performance potential is another. Our ability to achieve is affected by the state of our body, our thinking, our relationships and our deeper sense of purpose.
While we may be able to work at the office until 10 pm every night, there will be a trade off in terms of our health, our relationships, our fitness, our social life and our investment in deeper sense of meaning. Balancing the different aspects of our lives is crucial to achieving your personal life goals.
Just as a car dash board has a number of dials that assess the overall effectiveness of a car, so we too can look at a number of ‘personal dials’ which assess our overall work-life balance.
Balance is achieved by having a clear internal compass that is set in the direction you wish your life to go in. While it is common for organisations to have a clear sense of vision, purpose, values and goals, it is less common for people to do this work for their own life.
Our lives are surrounded by many different important relationships both within and outside of work. We also have many different roles –husband/wife/ mother/father/brother/ sister/ employed/ employer/ line-manager/ friend. Work life balance involves applying our personal purpose in life to each of these key roles in our lives.
The issue of time management is actually life leadership issue. In creating work life balance finite time is budgeted against personal goals.
Given the movement away from organised religion as a means to finding meaning in life how do we find a foundational sense of meaning and purpose to our existence?