I read a lot of books and two of my favorite business books are Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk and The Four-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss. While they both talk about business and being successful, they also talk about (to steal a phrase from Tim Ferriss): “Lifestyle Design.” They talk about what you want your life to look like and shaping how you personally define success. But the interesting thing to me is these are two completely opposite books.
In The Four-Hour Work Week, Ferriss is advocating working less and enjoying life more (as the title might indicate). He’s not promoting laziness but rather stating that life is too short to work and work and work and fall over and die one day.
Crush It is just the opposite. Gary states multiple times that in order to crush it, you better expect to outwork your competition and do whatever you need to do to make your goals happen. For him, that means working 18 hour days everyday.
(On a side note, ironically, although these are polar opposites of one another, Tim Ferriss has an endorsement quote on the cover of Gary’s book Crush It!)
As I read each of these I found myself drawn to thoughts from both. I agree with Gary that success comes from hard work. Period! But I have no desire to work 18 hour days. I also agree with Tim that I would rather enjoy my life than just work constantly, but if I just worked four hours (although again, that’s not necessarily what he’s teaching), I would be bored and go crazy.
The point is that each one of us have to decide what success looks like for ourselves. For you it may be working 18 hours a day and being the best in the world at what you do. For you it may be traveling the world gathering experiences. For you it may be quality time with your friends, family, or significant other. For you it may be a big bank account or owning a fancy car. Everyone is different, but you have to define what success looks like for you.
For me…I love what I do. I love being my own boss. I love working hard and making things happen. I love having freedom and flexibility. And although you could argue that the more you work, the more you earn, I love my family more. I love my wife. I love my daughters. I love my life. So working 18 hours a day has zero appeal to me. But working 4 hours a week also does nothing for me. I have to find a healthy balance between doing what I love and am passionate about and also being committed to experiencing life with those I love most.
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2 Comments
Grant-
Great points and great reviews! I’d be interested in finding out more how you’ve found your balance. That’s my biggest question as I’m re-reading Ferriss’ book, trying to not only find my niche, but a way to balance everything together.
Looks like you’re doing some great work and look forward to talking soon!
Thanks for the comment Jeff!
For me, balance comes by first establishing what matters most. In my world, it’s my family. So when work and family collide, it’s a no-brainer decision. Family wins.
At the same time, my family recognizes that if I don’t work and am not speaking, we don’t have income! Everyone’s situation is different so I don’t know if there’s a rock solid way to find balance that makes sense for you.
Some days I’m really good at balance and other days I fail miserably. One thing to consider and remind yourself is that balance happens in waves. Meaning in every industry there are some seasons that are busier than others. Your life may be out of balance during those busy seasons, but you have to be strategic to make up for it in the slow seasons.
Hope that helps!