Achieving Work-Home Balance

Work and family are inseparable, yet are separate. Family is what you become as a consequence of your humanity. Work is what you do as part of your stewardship mechanism.

Work and family are inseparable. We value tremendously the principle that “no success can compensate for failure in the home.”  If you are to succeed at work or in your business, you must bring your family up with you. After all, your family is the reason you are working so hard. Your success is of no consequence if the family is divided.

On the other hand, you cannot have a happy family or home life if you do not have the provisions for a happy decent living. Or your children don’t have the means to go to school. Or a safe place to stay.

Work and home are separate in that one is a consequence of the other, or a means to the other. Home is where you go to after work. It is your sanctuary. You don’t bring your family concerns to work or to your business, or vice versa, and achieve a fulfilling work and home atmosphere.

Balance is a condition of equilibrium. When we talk of work-home balance, we are not talking of an equation in time. I believe we refer to the importance we accord to each of these two life areas. We can only achieve balance if we know their relative importance to us: what home is for and what work is for.

Let us remember that work is just a means towards an end. If the end is personal achievement, it can only give us personal wealth, honor and glory, but not enough to make us truly fulfilled. 

True fulfillment is when your achievements are shared with and by those whom you love and who love you.

How is your life balance?