“easy choices, difficult life”

One of my classmates used to be in the habit of not saying a definite yes or no to a proposed outing. “Maybe” kept her options open (at least, this was her reasoning). But did she really invite freedom into her schedule? In my mind, she just ended up with a huge pile of “work in progress.” And as her friend, I definitely didn’t feel valued in the relationship.

Jerzy Gregorek said “hard choices, easy life. Easy choices, hard life.” There is so much wisdom in these words.

You’re interested in finding a way out of burnout. You want to learn how to create a healthy balance between the competing interests of your personal life and your demanding career.

This means that what you allow into your calendar has to go through a disciplined priority sequence first. And that priority depends on what you profess to value. Most people don’t do this kind of “Marie-Kondoing” to their day. Rather, people let their schedules fill with tasks that provide very little progress toward their dreams. If you don’t know your core values, it’s hard to know what will bring you joy. If you don’t know what brings you joy, everything has an equal demand on your time. You can be efficient at completing the unimportant tasks, but you won’t really get anywhere closer to your dreams.

Rinse and repeat that process for a few decades and you will find yourself sobbing, wondering with regret what happened to your life.

Make a choice. Make choosing one of your new habits.

Choose to make a small step every day toward what you value above all else. Build those foundational pillars of vitality, connection, and contribution. Then let life’s busy-ness settle into the small cracks that remain after choosing your dear dreams first.

Question: What is one small choice you can make today that will get you closer to your dream work life integration? Comment below!