Work life balance just wasn’t something I thought about as a business owner...

Work life balance just wasn’t something I thought about, like, not even for a second.

I worked from 6:45 til 20.15 for years. I even worked a half day on Saturdays.

That’s not a brag or anything.

My focus was just entirely on getting the business off the ground.

That’s the incredible thing about the stress response. It heightens your alertness and immunity allowing you to function at a higher level exactly when you need it.

It also creates tunnel vision to help you remain mission focused and even reduce your empathy so that you aren’t distracted by other peoples needs.

Nobody will thank you for your empathetic behaviour on the journey if the boat sinks.

It’s collateral damage that starts the conversation about work life balance or at least it was for me.

I’m doing this thing that feels purposeful. I’m surrounded by gratitude and passion and inspiring conversations all the time it’s like a drug.

But the body is starting to notice the wear and tear. There’s muscle pain that’s not going away.

Alcohol and caffeine have become strategic partners in creating alertness and switching it off.

I’m not seeing my friends and my relationship has become far more of a transactional one than the shared adventure we signed up for.

My wife also tells me looking back that I’d lost my funny.

I’d also become an instructional leaders. I’d habitualised operating from stress.

I’ve seen that happen a lot.

You’re hyper-vigilant in the early days because so much is new and you don’t know what you’re doing or if it’s going to work but soon you just don’t feel normal unless you create that state.

So you use caffeine and make everything seem like life or death. Exciting for you, but not great for your body or those around you.

It wasn’t a magical balance of hours that made the difference.

It was something far more powerful and fulfilling than that.

It was deciding the type of relationship I want to have with my children.

Re-connecting with my wife and deciding what we both wanted and where we were going.

It was deciding what I valued and what the business valued and what behaviours it would take to align with those values.

Work life balance is an identity issue not an arbitrary division of hours issue and really it’s only you that can diagnose yourself as having a problem.

Nothing changed for me until I decided who I wanted to be?