The Power Your Personal Brand has on Your Work-Life Blend
We’ve all heard the phrase, “work-life-balance”. But balance, by definition, means, “a condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions.”
Now, here’s the thing. Being “equal” and being in the “correct proportions” are two different things. So, to make it simple, society bases the concept of a work-life balance on all things being equal.
But the key to a life that FEELS in balance is choosing the correct proportions at any given time. So, how can we find a way to do that? You guessed it! Let' your personal brand lead the way.
A New Definition: Work-Life Blend
In contrast to the definition of balance, let’s take a look at “blend”.
To blend is to “form a harmonious combination.”
Ooh, that sounds more like life, doesn’t it.
There are tons of things that go into life. And on any given day, there are different amounts of each thing. Instead of trying to balance them out, we can blend them to form a harmonious combination of activities that bring energy to our days.
Setting the Stage
I talk a lot about personal brand values. Let’s use mine as an example to set the stage of creating a work-life blend ;)
I’ll pick my top 3 for this example: 1) Family, 2) Achievement, and 3) Authenticity
Let’s start by looking at the pre-defined definition of balance. Say I spend 33.33% of each day working, sleeping and “doing life”.
I feel like I “contributed” if the activities I do are aligned with my values.
If my work isn’t aligned with my values, I get nothing to contribute to the blend there. And, as important as sleep is, when I’m sleeping I don’t actively embrace my values. Another zero. Which leaves me with my 33.33% of life to live my values. Even if I’m doing that 100% of the time, I won’t get my equal balance.
Bring In Personal Brand Values
Now, let’s look at it with a focus of creating a work-life blend based on those values.
Family - having dedicated family time EVERY day for me is important. It doesn’t have to be the SAME every day (for example, on the weekends, it’s more). What it DOES have to be is dedicated.
Achievement - having a feeling of achieving a thing, whether it’s for myself or a client, is super important to me. This could be something as simple as doing the dishes, or as complex as hosting a live session of my Permission to DO YOU webinar series.
Authenticity - showing up authentically is HUGE for me. If I go through a day, whether that’s mostly work or mostly life without being authentic, it’s a no-go.
If I go into every day consciously thinking about infusing my work AND life with these 3 values, the likelihood of me feeling content at the end of the day is much higher ;)
PLUS, I’m not trying to be equal in terms of TIME, but contribution!
Measure with Feelings
A true work-life blend should feel like exactly that. Smooth transitions between what you are accomplishing in work and what you are accomplishing in life. They aren’t in competition with each other. And nothing needs to be traded to have both.
Exact percentages here are NOT the winning combination. A fluid experience based on feelings will win the day.
Your blend is YOURS, and yours alone. If you don’t like the recipe, change it. And change it to include all your favorite ingredients (aka personal brand values)!
For more discussion on Work-Life Blend, check out the Be A Human In Business Show: Episode #8.
And if you’re looking for more direction on how to incorporate your personal brand into YOUR work-life blend, let’s chat :)
