I hear and read a great deal about the work and life balance equation and its different aspects. This premise is usually characterized in a “work-bad, life-good” scenario. One definition of the noun use of work includes, a task or tasks to be undertaken; something a person or thing has to do. Alternatively, the definition of the noun use of life includes: ………..including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change…….
I don’t know as I’ve ever consciously thought of work being bad and subsequently life being good, but their definitions have that connotation.
As someone that has seen twelve company changes and many more job title changes over my career, I can safely say that when a work situation wasn’t panning out for me, I took steps to rectify that (or in a couple cases, the company took steps to rectify that). I can say that about my non-work life as well.
Just today, in a conversation on business ethics, I made the point that businesses, especially smaller ones, can take on the philosophy or values of its leadership. It’s a principle I have subscribed to since I first started leading PlastiCert, and then truly started embracing after taking ownership. I want my workplace to be a place where people feel they are contributing. A positive environment, that doesn’t need to be “counter balanced” once they walk out the door. This goes for the operators on the floor, the technical staff and on to my professional staff.
I prefer to think of work and life as both being a state where one strives for enjoyment or happiness.
Which goes back to the point made by our founding fathers in the Declaration of Independence. Therein it proclaims: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
They make the distinction that happiness is not a right, but to always be in pursuit of it certainly is. That pursuit can happen whether at work or not at work.
So while achieving balance in life can be a worthwhile goal, it shouldn’t be assumed that work will be the downside and life will be the upside. They can both be positive, and that’s what we strive for at PlastiCert!