Written by: Chuck Bean, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Age is such an influencer. I am on the back half of 62 these days and I liken myself as to the body of an old car with the mind of a young driver. The young driver in me can handle the controls with ease, steer perfectly, see the future and drive with finesse. The old car in me does ok, but from time to time sputters and stalls.
Age does catch up with us and having given thousands of talks, lectures, workshops and coaching sessions to business leaders and managers, the subject of work-life balance inevitably comes up with the focus of how to get as much out of life and aging, while progressing through one’s career.
And on the subject of work-life balance, my rebuttal is always the same…there is no such thing as work-life balance.
Rather there is a juggle of three life influencers, think of them as three vehicles that we ride through our lives and that give our lives meaning and purpose. They are career, health and relationships.
Think about it. We are born as positive energy, we are organic and we are like everything else in the universe, a complex assembly of atoms. It is important to internalize this. At our base, we are no different than the desk we sit at or the car we drive. Just atoms… assembled in such an astounding way, resulting in a living being, rather than a static object. More-over our lives are short, and the opportunity to fall into the trap of entropy and let ourselves and those things around us fall into decay is everywhere.
Yet if we think of the three vehicles of career, health and relationships, and if we revere and take care of them, life can be one hell of a great ride.
So what to do? First measure yourself on a 1-10 scale with the question of: “Am I doing a good job of maintaining each of my three life vehicles?” Be sure to rank each vehicle individually. Next if you find yourself off-base with one, two, or all three, take action to improve.
The juggle was not always clear to me. There were plenty of times in my life where all that mattered was career and my health and relationships took a backseat, if any seat at all.
Having taken the time to assess myself, this measurement has manifested itself into a number of self-statements. When I was young I would tell myself that “I didn’t have time for a walk, because I had to get to work.” Today my self talk is the opposite. I say “I will get to work, but after I have my walk!” Today I make time for my colleagues as I do my career.
And today I treat these vehicles as I do my bicycle. I check them regularly. I make sure that my social connections are lubricated, that my career is fluid and that my health is in-check… much like the chain, wheels and moving parts of my bike. I also respect the fact that while riding my bike, like my career, health and relationships, I very well might find myself climbing hills, in headwinds and riding like a madman in an amazing tailwind.
That is life, isn’t it? A series of challenges, sprinkled with opportunities. We just need to do a good job of looking after things, and we will have one hell of a ride!
Chuck Bean, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Chuck (Charlie) Bean started his business career at age 6, collecting golf balls at the local driving range for pennies. “I would spend every Saturday and Sunday making enough money to buy a bottle of pop or a candy bar in the concession”, tells Chuck soon after he was selling golf balls to players on the local course, and even beer!
Fast forward, and Chuck was an award-winning sales professional. Management followed. Moving into the paper industry, Chuck carried on with regional and then national turnarounds, eventually being named VP Sales and Service overseeing a team of 180 inside and outside salespeople, managers, and directors.
Following his dream, he opened a consulting and training advisory. Chuck will tell you he has had a great ride. Besides having worked with over 400 companies and over 18,000 individuals, Chuck has consulted and guided some of Canada's biggest stars, including working as COO for what was one of the largest specialty energy service companies in the world.
Today Chuck specializes in developing strategies and delivering training and coaching in leadership, sales, communication, business value building, and teamwork. He is no-nonsense and pragmatic and has helped people and corporations succeed for over 40 years. He will call a spade a spade and work quickly to understand, address, and help fix problems, identify opportunities and identify challenges.
He has developed business strategies for almost every geo-market and has worked extensively in oil and gas, general industry, IT, electronics, dental, paper, chemical, wood products, and consumer packaged goods. He specializes in B2B and channel-type organizations.
He has authored/contributed to books with Dr. Stephen Covey, Dr. Deepak Chopra, and Dr. Ken Blanchard. Chuck also owns 6 tech start-ups currently in different levels of commercialization.
