As someone who takes work very seriously, an article on LinkedIn by Jeff Haden really hit home. The man in his story had a life in which the personal and professional were so tightly wound that he lost all hope when the business ran into trouble.
For me, family and friends come first, and I know I’d have all the support in the world if I ever ran into trouble on the business side. But there was a time when all my self-worth was tied to work. That’s not good when you’re in an unstable industry like newspaper publishing.
This article captures the lesson I ultimately learned, with one caveat: I never found myself in a situation as severe as what this unfortunate soul encountered.
“Why You Need to Go Home Early Today“
By Jeff Haden, ghostwriter, Speaker Inc., magazine columnist
On one hand I feel I have no room to talk on this one. My professional and personal lives are deeply intertwined and I struggle often with feeling like I can never do enough at work to truly be accomplishing things of value, or out weigh the unpredictability of having an employee with my pile of health issues.
On the other hand, my crazy work life mix more or less balances out. I need to try to edge it a bit more toward life-that-isn’t-medically-required, but I think I’m close.