Are you all about the grind or are you quite quitting?
Seems these days you can only be one or the other. Celebrating the effort or giving the absolute minimum. Sound familiar?
A few years back, at CaboPress, I gave a talk about balance. I pointed out something that I thought was obvious but struck a chord with a few of the attendees…..
Balance can only be found in the extremes.
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Need an example, think back to your playground days and the teeter totter. You and a friend, laughing across an equidistant mounted piece of lumber going up and down like a piston. Remember what happened when your friend got too close to the fulcrum? You either got shot off the other end or stuck in the elevated position indefinitely ……or until the street lights come on you needed to go home. Remember those days?
Even worse, remember what happened when your friend finally relented and got off the teeter totter? Yep, you crashed back down to mother earth. Often violently.
Our own work and life balance are just like the kids on the teeter totter. They can only be balanced if they are given the same amount of dedication and focus. And when we spend too much time with our efforts not equidistant to each other, when we do attempt to get off the teeter totter…….we put ourselves at risk of a violent crash.
Now I am not suggesting that we should always spend the same amount of time on each. What I am suggesting is that when you are focused on one or the other, they command the same level of focus and attention.
When you are working….you are focused on achieving your best and giving it your all.
When you are with your family….you are focused on being intentional and delivering your best to feed the relationships.
In the end, it is my take that neither the grind culture or quite quitting is healthy for anyone if left out of balance…my answer is to give both work and life everything.