Ok, so they say new year resolutions are generally broken 3 to 4 weeks into January, but yet I hear a collective cry from us all, ‘This year is GONNA BE DIFFERENT!’ Bravo I say unto thee.
What if your resolution involves finding the perfect, dare I say dreaded work-life balance? Is such a thing fictitious, or could it be a growing movement, like algae feeding on Greta’s increasing angst toward a world of carbon emissions!
The modern economy is increasingly seeing a shift from employees who enjoy life-long jobs with stable organisations, to a world where the organisation is a nebulous, constantly-changing beast, lurching from restructure to restructure at the behest of an increasingly thirsty sharemarket. The motto in this new paradigm? ROI (return on investment) – in other words, get productive and adapt quickly or lose the competitive edge and frankly, get ye out you dark spot! The human being is – like much of our infrastructure – merely a unit of production in need of constant reassessment and rapid replacing at the slightest hint of decreased optimal performance.
Now before before I plunge completely into the negatory here, it’s worth noting for a second that value is not always monetary and whilst the sharemarket views ROI purely on figures and the short term 6 to 12 months, there is another form of value which is far more qualitative, rather than quantitative. There are growing industries who build their entire business plan on sustaining a business, a farm, a craft beer plant on such qualitative notions and it is to these pioneers of ‘value perception’ I gaze as I aspire to do the same.
It’s this qualitative measurement which is driving a growing revolution in the employee and employer relationship. X & Y gens and even some of the boomers and millennials are seeing increasing uptake in a major shift from large corporate loyalty, to a decentralisation where employees start their own businesses and become contractors or freelancers/free agents to the large corporates they once served along with plethora of other organisations both large and small.
The GIG economy has also been at play, enabling this fascinating evolution of worker/employee, service provider/service seeker economy. …and then there was a Voice Actor, such as moi! Starting 2020 with a fresh appreciation for my role in this decentralised, liberated, admittedly higher-risk, ‘get out what you put in’ paradigm, I – fellow citizens of ‘can do’ – am determined to not only find great work with exceptionally talented creative peeps, but also, to be the best version of myself to boot. Thus, the question of turning up ‘charged up’ comes to mind – in other words, have I invested enough in myself to provide my customers with an exceptional experience? Some call it self-nurturing, others list it under the category of ‘work-life-balance’.
So this year, for the first time in a long while, I lept out of the proverbial boat and took 10 sun-kissed days on an island in the pacific, during a quiet time of the year – all in persuit of the highly endangered ‘work-life-balance’. Well, I’m all the richer for it – especially since I was able to flex and co-mingle the qualitative and the quantitative worlds into one mushy malai of creamy balanced perfection. By this I mean my work equipment came with me, along with my family and my swimmers and my exercise gear and HEY PRESTO,…I made the evolutionary leap into a slightly improved, calmer and sustainable work-life balance.
I’m rabbiting on. Let’s swiftly kick this home. Whatever journey you are on, I pray you find success and a sound balance with your work-life ratios and I wish you well with those pesky new year resolutions!
Here’s to finding YOUR voice.
🙏
Colin
