Life Balance. A Performance-Based Perspective

Life Balance… For Those Who Wouldn’t Normally Consider the Concept.

By Emily Osbun Bermes



Let’s face it; the eighties have been over for some time now- for most of us anyway. Along with the obnoxious clothes and big hair, the “I can do it all, have it all, and be everything to everyone” mentality created in the eighties, has been left behind as well. In retrospect, collectively, we’ve noticed that quality of life does matter, and that having, doing, and being everything mostly left us exhausted and depleted anyway. As a culture we’ve started to recognize that a more healthy life balance might be necessary if we are to ever start feeling good about our lives. We’ve started to recognize that the price of “success” might be too high, and that success is sometimes only bitter-sweet. To gain the job or status you thought you wanted, you might have to give up something more important. So as a culture, we’ve been re-evaluating our priorities, wondering what it would take to really fulfill us, and making choices to that end. Doing it all just didn’t do the trick.



Despite the culture shift, there are still a lot of very successful people running around believing that to be “a success” they need to keep sacrificing everything for that aim. It’s the guy who is working 70 hours a week, talking on a cell phone through lunch, and mentally strategizing the next big deal through his daughters’ soccer game. It’s the woman working 15 hour days only to come home and work another 3 or 4. These folks don’t have life balance.



If for the past 15 years, the more touchy-feely reasons for having a reasonable life-balance hasn’t been persuasive to you, have you considered that a lack of balance might actually be inhibiting your work-performance as well? It’s true. If there is no other reason for you to investigate life balance, look at it from a purely performance-driven angle. A person with a life that is out-of-balance, performs similarly to car whose tires are out of balance. You might not notice what isn’t there, performance-wise, until you have your car maintained. The little pull you’d learned to live with, the watery steering you’ve come to ignore… when fixed, make a performance difference that makes driving that car fun (and safe) again. The same is true for your life. When you instill a healthy balance in your life, you’ll find you perform better than you realized you could- in all arenas.



Life balance, or the degree to which all areas of your life are functioning to a degree that pleases you, is important because they are all tied together. Your work, finances, intimate relationships, family relationships, friendships, spirituality or personal growth, health/wellness, your physical environment and fun (yeah that’s right- fun) all come together to create the life that you experience. Notice, the common denominator is you? The spiritual crisis, the floundering marriage, the disconnect from your children, the painfully obvious lack of fun… all impact you, and you are the foundation for performance. It is as simple as that.



An executive who learns to focus energy and attention, not just on what he or she is good at (usually work), but to focus energy on the things that come less naturally (maybe relationships, maybe cutting loose) actually increase their overall balance, become more fulfilled, and are better able to meet the demands of the workplace-everyday. And they learn to do it with more energy, clarity, and focus. It’s like driving a well-maintained car; you are simply more likely to go the distance if your life has balance.

The significance is this:

Imagine the executive, so loved and respected at work, and her home life is a wreck. That’s a wheel out of alignment. Imagine the manager who is really happy at home and at work, but his he is obese, and this impacts his energy level and self-concept- that’s a tire with low air pressure. Or a CEO who is so disconnected from fun, he’s not sure what he would even do for fun if he had the time- these are bald tires. The analogy here is that you can’t have top performance with any instrument that has not been maintained. You wouldn’t drive your child or grandchild around in a car that had been this poorly maintained, would you? Yet many people neglect their own life to the point that they are not fully able, fully present, or fully responsive to the needs and demands of their complicated lives. Showing up for your life without having properly maintained yourself is a little like driving yourself, and everyone/everything you love around in a car that in a state of disrepair.



So, if for no other reason, consider life balance form a purely performance-based perspective and do a little maintenance on the most important machine you own: you.