Fast Company February Balancing Acts - Unit of One Issue 22 Nathan Johnson

My first thought as I read this article was how did these leaders become so blind to the need for balance in their lives. Who's footprints were they following anyway? And why now, do they suddenly realize the need for balance when before they thought they were happy with their 60 - 100 hour work weeks.

So many people have been led to believe that happiness is bought with money and the money needed for that comes from times spent working. I don't know how this cycle got started but as evidenced by this article it has wreaked havoc with many people's lives. I would be interested in finding out what caused them to work these schedules. Is it parental pressure? Own Expectations? Success? Competition? And if that has been what is driving this imbalance what made them realize they needed a change? Why not continue on at that frantic pace until they retire. No, somewhere along the line they realized the mistake they were making and decide it was time to make a change.

I think the best line in the article comes form Dawn Lepore who states" balance is less about striving for some elusive sate of equilibrium than it is about making choices in your life. That is the key word for everyone. Choices! We all make them. It is convenient to say others make them for us, but if we truly don't like the setting were in it is still our choice to leave.

I think the article raises some good ideas but I don't believe any of them are new. People in the working class struggle with the same problems as found with chief executives. After visiting with the average person you will find they have come up with the same ways of balancing their lives, making choices.

-- Anonymous, March 24, 1999