Personal responsibility shapes balance

As a member of the late 1960s generation, the question of a good work-life balance has been with me from the very beginning.

Influenced by a libertarian spirit in which personal responsibility and motivation were considered the highest virtues, I was taught early on: Life is what you make of it. Cold water was not a spectre, but a familiar element, an expression of self-determination.

At the beginning of my studies, the focus was less on academic prospects and more on the need to develop key skills in order to be a competitive performer after graduation.

There was no mention of work-life balance.

The weekend was a retreat where we occasionally didn’t work. Not much has changed to this day. I’m not dissatisfied, but I’m rich in experiences, including two moderate burnouts.

Be careful what you’re asking for.

A different attitude to the future

My son is now studying mechanical engineering with great passion and looks to the future with a completely different attitude.

The question of a safety net hardly ever arises for him. With playful ease and serious commitment, he explores what is possible and what gives him pleasure.

From my perspective at the time, it seems almost alien.

And yet today it seems so healthy, so mature, so life-affirming to me.

Work-life balance sounds right

In practice, it is often far removed from life: Why this separation between “work” and “life”?

Is work not a part of life?

Am I not alive during work and only come back to life when I leave the company premises?

The separation seems contrived.

Two ways to deceive yourself and others

This originally sensible concept is often distorted today.

The performance maximizer propagates work-life balance as a social ideal and in reality consistently shifts the balance in favour of work. Predictable.

The entitlement avoider uses the concept to justify inertia and emphasizes that more is already being done than is required. Just as predictable.

A different attitude to life

But there is a third group: people who do what they do with passion and joy, without ever thinking about work-life balance.

They act out of an inner drive, not out of a sense of duty. They work because they want to.

And leave it if they don’t want to. An expression of true freedom and self-determination.

What it’s actually about

The separation between work and life is artificial.

He who works, lives.
He who lives, decides how he works.

The question is not balance.
The question is: What are you standing up for?
And what is it worth to you?

The balance follows your decisions.