Try to question yourself on the above notion, is your entrepreneurial life well balanced? To a certain extent, you would say it’s rather well-balanced, however, is it truly balanced is the question you should ask afterwards. The idea is if you firmly believe you won’t regret to what you’ve answered, then you can simply ignore this piece; however, for those who have a little bit of guilt should continue to scroll down.
Maintaining a “proper” work-life balance is on the minds of many, especially entrepreneurs. It may take days, weeks, months or even years depending how fast you understand the relationship between them. It could be acknowledged through countless trial-and-error’s, thereby experiencing acrid accounts that inadvertently enable them to take into consideration for future endeavors. For Brad Feld, an MIT alumni who is a managing director at Foundry Group, vents through his blog that it took him almost 15 years, “a failed first marriage,” and his “current wife almost calling it quits” for him to realize that he had to “figure out what work-life balance meant.”
So, what is a “work-life balance” anyway? To simply put, it is a concept that blends the management of business and personal life to attain optimal working hours that can eliminate stress and improve overall life. In other words, you, as an entrepreneur, should manage your time efficiently, plan your activities effectively, prioritize your goals wisely, and know best what fully satisfies you, thereby enjoying work as well as having enough leisure time to cool off the heat. It is probably easier said than be done to many of you.
Starting a new venture is no easy task. You are passionate (and maybe obsessive, too), and have a blueprint of where the startup is heading in the coming years. Over-commitment to the startup at an early developing phase could lead to an exhausting daily life, which could alter physical well-ness or even personality in the long run. Perhaps, accomplishment and recognition from others outweigh or at least put these life factors behind. How long will this last anyways? Imagine yourself being totally burned out to a point where you find yourself sleeping more than half the day lying in bed on the weekends, too tired to get out of home. Is this what you’ve longed for all these years? Enjoying the fact that you’re doing what you love but at the same time feeling physically uncomfortable that you begin to struggle with yourself by attempting not to make it an obstacle to your long journey in venturing out a new business.
We all have a small knack to set up businesses at some point in life. Thanks to technology and its vast use, young and ambitious entrepreneurs are currently diverting from the conventional fresh out of college and landing jobs to build a career through work experience for future endeavors. Hyun-Sung Daniel Shin, Founder and CEO of Ticketmonster in Korea, a fast growing social commerce powerhouse is a prime figure who sets an example to young entrepreneurs in the search for success. In an interview with the JoongAng Daily, he mentioned “I want to enjoy what I do.” After graduating from the Wharton, he quit his job at McKinsey believing that one day his company would become “McKinsey’s client,” which his colleagues even strongly encouraged doing that. Nonetheless, even with all the passion and positive energy exuded to operate their venture, entrepreneurs will eventually find themselves worn out. The question is persistency. Venturing will pause when the physique does not cope with the mind. Hence, finding one’s distinctive way of balancing work and life will help the venturing process seem less exhausting.
(This article was developed with H.G. Byun, a publicist of KingsBay Capital.)
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