The RIGHT Way to Do Work-Life Balance | Simon Sinek

We need to start trusting people to set their own boundaries when it comes to work and personal life. The two shouldn't be in opposition, but rather work in tandem FOR the individual, not against.

+ + +

Simon is an unshakable optimist. He believes in a bright future and our ability to build it together.

Described as “a visionary thinker with a rare intellect,” Simon has devoted his professional life to help advance a vision of the world that does not yet exist; a world in which the vast majority of people wake up every single morning inspired, feel safe wherever they are and end the day fulfilled by the work that they do.

Simon is the author of multiple best-selling books including Start With Why, Leaders Eat Last, Together is Better, and The Infinite Game.

+ + +

Simon’s books:

+ + +

#SimonSinek

[travis]

I worked for a company nearly two decades and there was literally no work-life freedom for many years. My second year at company manager brings me in tells me I've got to be really committed to the job now, extra responsibilities etc, but where was the pay? At the time was only making 9 bucks an hour. Then I started going to school that same year, big mistake. Because of this commitment the manager had spoken of I was called upon many days to work overtime. The job itself was a strict 8-5, Monday-Friday, but with the overtime and the school schedules, this was before online schooling was popular, i basically had to drop all my courses for two semesters. Then there was overbearing work some years that was like wtf. Really. The managers said to be committed to job, but the only people who were making bank at the company were the owners, millions a year, then they retired, the only people from that company who benefited from the commitment. It really made me aware too late in life, that a worker should not be loyal to a job if it's a hostile work environment but I was loyal for way too many years.

[StEpHeNno]

1:22: "I also can't decide when I need a break. Sometimes, it's something I _feel_, not something I _plan for_ ." Love this!

[k]

I still think work and life are opposing forces even if you have a job that you enjoy. You simply can't do recreational things if you have too many hours of work to do. So for me, balance has always and still is the logical word. The more hours worked, the less time for other things. I think all the recent talk about how balance is the wrong word and it really should be "harmony" or "integration" is the result of overthinking something that is actually very simple.

[skahn]

Oh...to be so blessed as to have these choices.

[TomFinnovation]

"The more seamless that we can make work and life, the more we start to enjoy both more" Spot on, Simon!

[mozinoz_digital]

I relocated to a place renown for hiking adventures, so that I would be able to work and go for a hike or camp out, during the week and weekends rather than enjoy one - 4 week holiday a year. Work-life balance is achievable.

[kunalofkunal]

This is basically how it is in Scandinavia as far as I have seen. it comes down to the actual mentality of the people I believe. If a company trusts their people then it will be like how Simon said everywhere in the world.

[MichaelNealeYT]

This is so well put and I can't wait for companies to start realising that people aren't machines

[robrobertson]

I heard the phrase ‘work life harmony’ once (can’t remember the source) and have adopted that phrase vs ‘work life balance’. What Simon shares is idealistic and certainly doable in certain occupations. Unfortunately, those in retail, client facing positions just don’t have the ability to have much flexibility in their work day as they are expected to be at their desk or on the floor to serve clients that walk in the door at a time of the clients choosing.

[DaveTalksBusiness]

"Who should work and life be in opposition". I love that. The goal is not to change THAT you work, it's HOW you work. Where and why and how are so critical.

[grale]

Totally agree. My CEO is around 65 years old and to him this is rocket science. And we are hostages of his '80s-'90s way of thinking 😔.

[Kevin]

I love the concept you speak of but it only works for jobs that can afford to do it. It doesn’t work for emergency services, police, fire, ambulance, which are jobs that impact life or death if people don’t come to work. These are also jobs that have a huge impact on the mental health of the workers. That’s hard to reconcile.

[thesuccesscommunity]

We completely agree with your Concept of work life balance Simon. Work and Personal life should be confined by your level of effort and time allocation. The issue in today's society is that we tend to prioritize money over personal balance, and we end up working for something or someone we don't even like, which makes our lives so stressful...

[amersiddiqui]

This is absolutely fantastic!! This is what I do and so good to see Simon saying it out loud

[RobertCBrown]

Align yourself with who you are. Accept it, embrace it and just go with it. Things just start working from there.

[beccagoldsberryswc]

Work and personal life being "smooth" in transition, I love it.

[izawaniek]

Yes, it is so true. Just trust your gut and be true to yourself. Violence breeds resistance. And kills the good spirit.

[melbeth]

I've had to learn that as a mature student now and back when I was a commercial cleaner too. Often I can't work on school projects before afternoon so I've learned to go with it and use mornings for personal things that I enjoy.
My last boss let me work mon-thurs, take fri off and work sometime on the weekend with my cleaning contracts. As a single parent I preferred this because I worked evenings and not going in fri meant I could have three days in the week off instead of two because I could go in through the day Sat. My last boss rocked with this flexibility. As long as I got my contracts done by monday 8 am he didn't care when I went in. The no cleaning on weekends rule some companies had didn't make sense to me. It just worked better for some.

[seanstuart]

Great concept, but seems to only be for a certain type of job/career… there are people who work in trades and/or service industries where this isn’t considered an option. Especially small business, small meaning less than 20 people, not 500.

[Lollertube]

It is incredible that I found this channel at this time in my life where I'm around 40 and I'm starting a career as freelancer because I feel that being employed has never really worked out well for me in all these years that I have been working after graduating despite the fact that I have always been considered a very good and dependable professional. Now I want to see how it works out on my how, what I'll be able to do. And this channel is a great resource to have a better chance of "doing it right".