The concept of work-life balance implies that work is bad and life is good; it suggests that work and life are two different entities that need to be strictly separated and kept at a constant value.
I believe there is a misconception that less work equals more happiness.
Work is seen as a mechanism for financial support and to be difficult, whereas our home environment are believed to inspire joy and happiness and feel easy.
In my experience, work-life balance is more like a rollercoaster than a constant and our challenges are as likely to be in our own homes as in our working environments.
Joy and happiness can be experienced through all our interactions which include work.
Dr Steve Suckling and his blog: https://themaslow.foundation/towards-the-innovation-paradox/, has interesting insights into the concept of life, a good life or a better life and that is a more appropriate journey to consider aligning to.
Our work needs to be more than just be a job. Whether we are artists, educators, healthcare professionals, managers, scientists or even entrepreneurs, many of us find genuine joy in our work. Some days, we may feel this is strenuous and tiring while other days, it is productive and creative but all occupations, team work, making a difference and showing skill can all enable us to feel pride and success.
There is also work in our home lives, with children, household tasks and wider demands, which may inspire however can be hard and exhausting. Embracing the chaotic nature of life is to accept that some periods of your life will be filled with ‘work’, while other points may be more ‘soul nourishing’.
What we all need is time to feed our soul!
Reading may be the space to find joy, which can be a rare treat but could be built into our days. Walking might be our sanctuary and should be placed as a priority. Spending time with friends and family can all feed our soul. For me making a difference to some-one is rejuvenating, which can be saying thank you at a supermarket or part of my working routine but makes me smile.
One of our human flaws, is that when something joyful happens, we feel a flood of positive thoughts and feelings. However when it happens for a second or third time, that same event loses its magic. In a working day, where routine abounds, we need to notice the good and work on how do we keep noticing!!!
Understanding our energy resources is a more useful concept than work-life balance
Rather than identifying a work-life balance maybe we could consider energy as a concept and to identify our own energy production activities and dedicate time to these. We also need to understand the support we need when energy draining experiences occur.
When we have joy and energy creation, this is transferable so can give us resilience to survive the difficult or enable the capacity to grow.
When we are supported and lifted up by our community, we can be inspired.
When we are being pushed down and constrained, we feel apathy and not being ‘good enough’.
What is impossible to achieve is the perfect family with the perfect job, within the perfect company, living in the perfect location, with enough money and resources to create a perfect life.
By changing our mindset to identifying whether we are passive recipients of life, enjoy a good life or want to have a better life is for us to choose.
Through feeding our souls every day, enjoying the journey that is appearing and finding ways to be resilient when needed, this ensures that we all experience joy, happiness and laughter which we can notice. When darker times occur, we should have strategies at hand to move forward through sadness, anxiety and tiredness.
We need to analyse all our commitments as an employee, partner, parent, carer, friend, leisure and soul feeding opportunities and factor these in our healthy lives.
Unlocking Energy with Purpose
By having a sense of purpose, this has been shown to increase our energy levels and the East has some interesting concepts which we can learn from to consider as part of our approach to a Healthy Life.
Ikigai is the Japanese art of living and although there is no direct translation, it has been defined as:
“essential to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.”
“Our ikigai is different for all of us, but one thing we have in common is that we are all searching for meaning.”
“There is a passion inside you, a unique talent that gives meaning to your days and drives you to share the best of yourself until the very end. If you don’t know what your ikigai is yet, your mission is to discover it.
“Your reason for being gives you a reason to live”
Ikigai is not related to work or money but what gives us meaning. This is for us to decide but could be ever changing and a journey of discovery. Alongside work, it can be family, a dream or simply an experience that you create. It is often found in the ordinary not the extraordinary. It can be multiple ideas and is rarely a destination but the path we follow.
Here are some websites that look at the concept of Ikigai:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/10-rules-ikigai-japanese-secrets-long-happy-life-shiv-yadav/
As leaders how can we create these energy generating environments
As an employer or as a leader, our responsibility is to support everyone to be the creator of their own life canvas and provide healthy work and healthy life opportunities which feed the soul as well as demand energy.
We never want to find our workforce working excessive hours which can do harm or working in environments that are unsafe however choice should underpin decisions and where stressors are abundant, we find new opportunities to distract and give alternatives.
Remote working has diminished the separation of home and work, however our natural world would have been a blended environment, so identifying and fulfilling our own needs is more important that setting hours at work.
My priorities are:
- Creating purpose which connects us generating shared meaning and joy.
- Ensuring we take time to enjoy and celebrate our journey, without the pressure of speed to achieve and noticing the world around us.
- Through tough times, working with people to manage those demands, understanding the energy deficit which is occurring and ensuring some energy credits are available.
- Build our teams that enable inclusion, with positive psychology, psychological safety and understanding, whilst recognising and noticing peoples true potential.
- Share our successes and seeking to ensure social value and flexibility to meet the needs of our workforce and enjoy the experience of giving back.
- Reconnecting with nature through walking, spending meetings in inspiring places alongside sustainability and ensuring we have a minimal impact on the planet
- Celebrating contribution, being grateful and giving thanks
Ikigai is one idea which I found interesting to bring energy creation to transform our workplace culture for the better. By searching and learning together we can all aspire to be part of something that wants to do something better every day. To do this as leaders, we need to find time to feed our own soul and that of those we serve.
