Political Balance

The above photo makes me smile on so many levels.  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau are greeted by an honour guard while arriving in Tokyo on May 23, 2016. (Photo Credit: Sean Kilpatrick/CP)

Each week I see articles and listen to podcasts that #worklifebalance is a myth and again, it makes me smile.

Everyone writing or recording about #worklifebalance is looking for the ‘idea’ of perfection for balancing our careers with the other elements of our life.  It’s not about complexities it’s about progression and the ability to plan.

Our Prime Minister’s decision to take a day off work during a trip to Japan to celebrate his wedding anniversary with his wife Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau, generated a lot of media.

CBC quoted that our Prime Minister was “willing to take ‘some punches’ for work-life balance,”

Lots of ridicule regarding the day off to honor their wedding anniversary and through my eyes and expertise on #worklifebalance, I must admit that I thought to myself that our Prime Minister has his priorities straight and how wonderful to see a happily married couple who live in the public eye.

For many people living in Canada, its certainly raised several emotional responses.  My message is simple.  Stop fretting over have a life of perfection and balance.

Many people feel and think that if you do a lot of post-secondary education that you will land your ‘dream job’ and do what you love with passion.  Well, I can tell you that I have many clients that I coach with multiple degrees up to an MD and they are not happy or balanced.  This is NOT the answer.

We have a Prime Minister who is going to lead our country until 2019.  Having a public leader model #worklifebalance in the significance of his role is well, quite frankly, purely awesome.  It sends a huge message to those who are willing to watch, learn and more importantly  — listen.

The demonstration of his core beliefs for family and relationships is also a nice element of demeanor that I believe is part of his true leadership style.

Work life balance has been literally choked to death. Let’s focus on work life fit. Let’s develop skills for progression and throw perfection out the window.  Let’s live each day and see it as a pure gift and what the day brings us we are able to handle.

Learn the skills to have resilience against stress and allow life to ebb and flow and when someone asks you if you have #worklifebalance you can answer just as I do. “Yes, I have it but more importantly I sustain it”.

It does not matter if you are a stay-at-home mom, janitor or CEO of a Fortune 500 company.  Work is not your life.  It’s one element of your #worklifebalance. Don’t let it succumb you.  Balance it evenly with all the other beautiful elements of your life and when the scale tips one way, embrace it, take a deep breath and tip it back to even things out.