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Let’s start with the phrase itself. Work – life balance. It implies that work isn’t a part of life, doesn’t it?

So is work death?

And how do you figure out this whole balance thing. It seems like you would have to tightly define work and life.

So what is work?

For example, does work mean the time you spend making money? If so, a stay-at-home mom or dad doesn’t work! Yet we all know how hard their job can be.

What about other unpaid work? Are the chores you do at home part of work or part of life?

Here’s another scenario: Imagine you want to go on a once-in-a-lifetime trip. So you take a temporary part-time job to pay for that trip. Is that work or is it part of life since you’re really only taking on the part-time endeavor to pay for something fun?

What if you turn your hobby into a part-time business? You think it’s great; instead of having to pay to do something you enjoy, you get paid to do it. Is that work or life?

Would it make any difference if that part-time business turned into a full-time opportunity? Would you be working at all or would your whole life just be … well, life.

And what is life?

Assuming you work in an office, do you consider the time you spend commuting work or life? Let’s assume that you consider it work. What if you choose to live some distance away from work? That’s definitely a life choice. So is the extra time counted as life or is it still work?

Does sleep count as life? It’s essential for life, but how productive are you at work after a sleepless night?

Even if you don’t get the sleep that’s recommended, it’s still a significant chunk of your day. So when you think about balance, do you just exclude sleep altogether?

What is balance?

Doesn’t balance imply an equal split between work and life? Is that what work – life balance really means? Are you supposed to spend half your time living and half dying (if work is death)?

If it’s not a 50 / 50 split, how can we call it balance? How many people ever achieve an even share of each? Is that even desirable?

Okay, we hear it … you want to know our point. Well, we have three of them:

No lines in the sand

The first one is that work – life balance is not only an outdated concept, we’re not sure it was a great concept in the first place!

Bigg goal-getters don’t draw a line in the sand. Work and life are integrated. They always have been. They always should be.

Work is a part of life. Life is a part of work. It’s best to accept that reality and find ways to make them work (or live) seamlessly together.

It’s a custom blend

Bigg success is life on your own terms. You decide the right mix of personal and professional. It’s your custom blend.

If you’re perfectly happy spending eighty percent of your time on personal activities, have at it. If you love your work and want to spend eighty percent of your time doing it, more power to you.

We’ll just share one caveat about working too much. Research has shown that experts can get too close to their subject and lose some of their creativity. You may not be well-rounded, but at least be a little rounded!

We’re preaching to ourselves in that last paragraph … we needed the reminder!

Look for synergy

Finally, don’t think zero-sum. Don’t accept that there has to be tradeoffs. Work doesn’t have to end so life can begin and vice versa.

If you think there has to tradeoffs, then you’re right. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. However, if you think it’s possible (better yet, probable) that you can find a solution that doesn’t require a trade-off, you’ll be more likely to try one.

That’s the bigg idea behind bigg success. There is synergy in the world. Strive to find ways to get your personal and professional lives working for each other instead of against each other. That’s bigg success!

What works for you?

We’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment below, call us at 888.455.BIGG (2444) or e-mail us at bigginfo@biggsuccess.com.

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Thanks so much for reading our little rant today.

Please join us next time when we begin a series of five posts on freedom. Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. 

Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed.

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00425-062609.mp3

Related posts

Flipping Work Life Balance

Taking Time Off to Get More Done

Why Work Life Balance Doesn’t Work

(Image in today's post by svilen001)

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It’s no wonder that so many people are jumping on this bandwagon. We’ve seen increases in our health insurance, our property taxes, and more. It sounds like there’s more to come.

The three-income family

Isn’t it interesting, though, that just a few generations ago, most families got by on one income? Then we added a second one in the household with more and more women joining the workforce.

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I don’t think it was purely a financial decision. It was also about fulfillment for many women, but it certainly helped the family’s income.

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Now a number of people can’t get by on two incomes. They need three or maybe more. If you find yourself in this position, it may be good to ask if all the obligations are really worth it.

Is that life on your own terms – being weighted down by the cost of things you thought you wanted? With careful analysis, you may realize they’re not so important – especially if you find you can’t enjoy life because you’re working so much.

So if you feeling that you need a third income, it might pay to look at your obligations to see if there are areas where you can cut. Spending time finding ways to reduce your obligations might get you further faster than spending that same time trying to make some extra money.

This new trend is about something more important than income.

Many of us now realize more than ever how much we want to be in charge of our own lives. The TrendWatching report mentions that people fantasize about being their own boss, even if it’s just for a few hours a week.

Bigg success is life on your own terms. You’re the entrepreneur of your life whether or not you’re an entrepreneur in the traditional sense.

Some people want to be the boss all the time. According to this new report, that trend is still alive and well. But more and more people are finding ways to be the boss at least part of the time.

They have the security of a full-time job along with the freedom that being in charge gives you part of the time. Freedom with security … what a great combination!

When you find fulfilling ways to make extra money in your spare time, you’re getting synergy working in the five elements of bigg success. If you make the right moves with that extra money, you can accelerate your journey to bigg success, to life on your own terms.

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Turning $3 into a multi-billion dollar business

One way that people are making extra money is by selling their expertise. Another way is by selling, or renting, assets. One clever example of this is ParkingSpots.com, which helps people rent their extra off-street parking spaces.

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I heard Michael Krasny tell his story of the founding of what became CDW. Most of us have probably done business with them. They do a great job. Back in 1982, Michael had a used computer he wanted to sell. The Chicago Sun Times was running a special on classified ads – 3 lines for 3 days for $3. He ran an ad and his phone started ringing off the hook. He realized he had a business here. He was right – within about ten years, the business he started from that classified ad became a Fortune 500 company. Michael Krasny became a multi-billionaire, recognized on the Forbes 400 as one of the richest people in the world! Now that’s bigg success!

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You never know … your idea for making a little extra money may turn into the next Fortune 500 company!

What do you do for extra money?

Share that with all of us by leaving a comment below. You never know … you might earn a little spare cash!

Thank you so much for reading our post today.

Do you think you don’t have enough spare time to make any spare cash? Please join us next time to see how one group people found the time.

Until then, here’s to your bigg success!

Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. 

Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed.

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/biggsuccess/00366-040609.mp3

Related posts

Creating Wealth in the Next Generation Economy

What’s Hot in 2009: Businesses

The Dirty Truth About Being an Entrepreneur

(Image in today's post by penywise)