Bill Canady argues work-life balance is a myth, especially for leaders working 80-hour weeks. Instead of strict separation, he proposes blending work and family, staying communicative with both, and holding competing priorities simultaneously. Perfection is unattainable, so give yourself grace.
One of the questions I get all the time is work-life balance. How do I have time for everything? How do I work 80 hours a week, make my kids' basketball games, take my wife out to dinner, do all these things? Well, I got to tell you right now, I don't know if there is such a thing as a work-life balance. What works for me is I blend them together. When I'm out and about, I try to, you know, try to stay off my phone as much as I can, but I'm gonna be honest with you. I'm looking at those emails. I'm looking at it because at the end of the day, A lot of the things we do, other people do as well. So we have competitors. Customer service is going to make the difference, right? I need to make sure that my customers feel like that they can depend on me. At the same time, I need to make sure that my family can depend on me. So I think it's more of a blending than carving out specific time, time in, time out. The leaders out there run these businesses. You're putting 80 hours in a week. That's what you're putting your time in on. That doesn't make it good or bad. It just makes it a reality. So involve your family, involve your spouse, involve your partners, let them know what what's going on and put the time in as is necessary. And as the leader, you're gonna have to be able to get, to have 2 competing thoughts in your head at all times, right? I need to be here to look after my business and make sure it's going. I need to be here to look after my family. I need to have, have social obligations. You wanna do the best you can. You're gonna realize you're not gonna get it perfect every time. Give yourself a little bit of grace, right? Give yourself a little bit of grace. And the way you do that, one of the big pieces, communicate. Let people around you know what's going on. Let them know what's happening. Doesn't mean they're gonna like it, but at least you're doing your part of it. So look, you've dedicated your life to this. Time to take it on. So get out there, make something happen. Make sure this time is worthwhile for you and your family and the team around you. All right. Have a great day, everyone.
