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The cultural perception around work is shifting - but not totally for the better. As Baby Boomers retire and younger generations establish themselves in the workplace, a hard line is being drawn between work and life. My generation blurred the boundaries between these two areas, and we oriented our identities around our professions. The newer generations, in the quest for work-life balance, have made a hard and fast rule: work is work, life is life, and the two shall not mix.
I believe work-life balance is good and necessary to a happy life, but drawing this heavy boundary is less about balance and more about separation. We are all gifted with one life, and work is a part of that. Today’s cultural trend reminds of Severance, a series about office workers who undergo a procedure that splits their work and personal memories, creating two separate lives within the same person. Why would we force ourselves into a severed version of reality, rather than letting different parts of our life integrate with and flow into one another?
Choosing to Lose Two Thirds of Our Life
I recall a friend, a business leader, who struggled with an employee who did good work, but didn’t seem to care beyond the bounds of his job. My friend wanted this employee to take on a stronger leadership role, but the employee’s enthusiasm wasn’t rising to that level.
The employee was a leader in his local church, so my friend approached him one day and asked if he could show the same energy and initiative in the workplace that he showed at his church. “This is only work,” the employee replied. “The church is my community and my life. It’s different.”
We spend around 70% of our waking hours at work, so how can we justify dismissing so much time as “only work”?
I believe that a truly happy life is a full life, not a severed life. If you love what you do and who you work with, work becomes more like play.
Finding Opportunities for Joy in Your Work
So, how do you begin to love your work? Start by making a mindset shift. Be curious about your work, your team, and yourself. Open yourself up to learning every day, asking “What don’t I yet know about this topic or person?” at every opportunity.
As you become more curious, allow your creativity to bloom. Get playful at work—yes, playful! Allow yourself to take (measured) risks. Experiment with new approaches and new processes, and invite your team to experiment, too. When you start to see work as play, it becomes joyful. You are curious about what you have not yet tried or discovered. You are also curious about the people around you and all the interesting gifts and ideas they can contribute.
When you approach work in this way, every day is full of interesting puzzles, new breakthroughs (big or small), and unexpectedly joyful moments.
One Seamless, Joyful Journey
“Patrick, you are one of those guys who hate the weekend,” a teammate once told me. I asked why he said that. He shared that on Fridays, it appeared to him that I could not wait to get back to work on Monday.
He was wrong. I did not hate the weekends—I enjoyed them. But I also could not wait to get back to work on Mondays! I love every day of the week, because 100% of my life and days are awesome. Why would I choose to love only part of my life? Everyday that God gives us can be and should be valuable and awesome.
I love my job so much that I can’t wait to get back to work after time away. I genuinely look forward to every Monday, because I love working with clients and finding new ways to help leaders achieve their dreams.
Younger generations are in pursuit of work-life balance because they want to live joyful, healthy lives—but separating work and life is not the way to get there. Why live only part of your life happily when you could live your whole life happily by finding joy at work?
Your career is a huge and important part of your life. If you employ a mindset of curiosity and play towards your job, you’ll have so many more happy hours in the day than someone who takes a robotic approach.
Be curious, be playful, and add many joyful years to your life’s journey.