We’ve all heard it before. “The key to a happy and successful life is having work/life balance” or “leave work at work and leave home at home.” How’s that working out for you? Most likely our attempts at this philosophy looks like us trying desperately to compartmentalize parts of our lives that we feel should not go together, leaving us feeling carved up, torn apart, and exhausted.

INTEGRATION OVER SEPARATION

The problem with work/life balance is that it assumes a duality or separation that does not exist. Whether you’re in a meeting on a Monday afternoon or you are at home on a Saturday night, you are still you. And that’s a good thing! As a purposeful entrepreneur, your work is driven by a deeply rooted “why” and that why is intricately tied to your story, who you are as a person, and the business you are building.

Buying into the myth of a work and life separation in a feeble attempt at balance only leaves us more stressed and unfulfilled because we do not properly tend to those parts of us that truly need attention in the moment. Instead of this we believe in having healthy and holistic integration of your work and the rest of your life. Integration allows you to bring your whole self to all areas of your life which will only make your work more purposeful and productive.

MAKE THE MENTAL SHIFT

To truly integrate all of the aspects of your work and life you need a consistent community of guidance and support to help you see areas of yourself you may be blind to. It’s helpful to find a group of people to walk alongside you in this journey.

In our group and individual coaching sessions at FLDWRK we encourage you to bring all of your life to those to the table (secret: it’s all there anyway). This means when we are sharing our challenges and celebrations you can and should share about that friend who is ill or meaningful family event because all of that impacts you.

This process of thinking about what is going on in your life and considering how it may influence your work and vice versa is the first step in becoming more aware of how these things are affecting you which, in turn, contributes to your work being purposeful and productive.

HOW TO START

This mentality is more easily adapted when you start to look at your life (all of it) as an integrated whole. Here’s a good place to start:

• Take 10-15 minutes to make a list of the challenges you’re currently experiencing. List everything that is taking up space your mind–both work related and not.

• Look at your list and notice any themes that come up. Often times when we feel out of control in one area, it affects another part of our life that seems unrelated at first glance. When we find that creativity isn’t flowing, it can be a sign that something else is bogging us down.

• Do you notice any ways where these challenges are integrated? What are some ways that you can alleviate one problem that will help alleviate another?

P.S. If you are looking to a have a more healthy and holistic work and life integration, check out our coaching page to sign up for your next group or individual coaching session.