Debates around how people can best balance their professional and personal needs – the elusive work/life balance – have been running for decades. Despite innovative forms of industry, new technologies allowing work to be done from almost anywhere and more ‘family friendly’ policies, we seem to be no nearer achieving it.
The search for balance extends way beyond simply spending the right amount of time at work and home. Business leaders, for instance, must constantly juggle a range of conflicting priorities, including how to manage for the now and the future. Formal metrics might help us, but fundamentally the quest for balance is more emotional, a search for control, comfort and happiness.
The shifting sands of globalisation and unprecedented technological developments that constantly mould and remould the modern world has made finding balance – if it was ever really achievable – even more of an exercise in futility.
Although huge amounts of progress have been made in recent decades, events of the last 12 months – from BREXIT, the election of an isolationist outsider as President of the United States and the rise of the far right in ‘moderate’ countries such as France – remind us that this view is not shared by all.
Many people feel they have been left behind by progress. Faced with an uncertain future, they are angry and fearful. But with the pace of change now so fast and the world so interconnected, no amount of rhetoric, barriers and travel bans can protect us from the chaos. We must embrace it instead.
PurpleBeach Experience 2017
At 4pm on 6 April, we will gather in London for PurpleBeach’s 5th annual experience. It is an opportunity to relax, connect and be inspired by the notion that the secret to success and happiness in today’s turbulent world is to stop seeking balance, hold on to the forces that pull us in different directions and embrace the extremes that life throws at us.
We’ll look at how people can become comfortable living in a world of discomfort, find opportunities in every threat and build teams that spot abundance where others see only obstacles. We’ll engage fascinating people with valuable, personal insight in conversation, and look at how great adversity and tumultuous periods in modern history stimulated the most incredible developments in art and innovation.
Contact me today at annemie@purplebeach.com to request your personal invitation.
And finally…
At PurpleBeach, we always tell you to expect the unexpected. Expect to see some exciting – and possibly unexpected – news coming your way next week!