The Myth of Living a Balanced Life!

“Most men live lives of quiet desperation” Thoreau

For a long time now there has been a growing wave of authors and experts, yogis and gurus preaching a balanced life. You know the pitch, work, family, spiritual, and leisure in equal measure.

Sounds good, but the fact is, it’s a total bullshit strategy for business or personal success!

I have never believed much in the concept of a balance life, perhaps for a decade when my kids were young there was some, but my wife may argue that. When I was in my twenties, I worked three restaurant jobs to save enough money to go back to the UK, and play golf all summer on the amateur tour. This usually meant working 70 plus hours a week. When I came back every year I started again from scratch, and had to go looking for a new job.

Then I’d work for another eight months so I could take the summer off next year. It wasn’t at all balanced. I took every shift I could get and never called in sick, but I still had fun after work, still took some classes in school, and hit enough balls to keep my golf game in decent shape. (My kids both work in restaurants and seem to think that the concept of working 30 or 40 hours is slave labor.)