Work as a lifestyle: Balancing passion and profession

Work. Life. Balance.

We all know what it is and for some of us, the very notion of the words can bring about dread: imaginations running wild with 7am emails filling up our inboxes and an unending call log from the weekenders, who have been hitting the office, hard.

We could perhaps agree that work-life balance can be somewhat of a see-saw, but work as a lifestyle might just be the answer we’ve been looking for.

In this article, we are going to explore this concept and how it has been growing in the modern workplace since the pandemic.

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Defining Work as a Lifestyle

• The approach: Work as a lifestyle is the approach that work can be an extension of yourself; not taking away from your personal life, but enhancing it. The concept of work as a lifestyle is for you to finds a role that aligns with your passions and beliefs, in order to find greater fulfilment throughout your life and not just in your spare time.
• Company alignment: With this said, it can be just as important to work for a company, that aligns with not only your passion, but also your personal values. It can be arguably difficult if you are working for a company that doesn’t practice what it preaches. This discord could lead to greater job dissatisfaction and resentment for your employer, even if you are pursuing a role you feel passionate about.

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Benefits of Work as a Lifestyle

• Personal Fulfilment: It is no secret that integrating work with personal interests is helpful in order for you to feel fulfilled and not to get all GCSE Psychology     about this, but within ‘Maslow’s hierarchy of needs’, self fulfilment is included in this period, a crucial component to feeling fulfilled and content with one’s life.
• Increased Productivity: It then makes sense that passion-driven work can enhance productivity and creativity, as you, the employee connects with their role on a personal level, leading to greater results for both employees and employer.

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Practical Tips for Adopting Work as a lifestyle

• Identify Your Passion: Find what you love and explore how you can make this a part of your role, whether that means a career change, or maybe there is room to develop passions within the role you are currently in.
• Set Goals: Set clear, achievable goals, stepping in the right direction towards work as a lifestyle. This might be a talk with your line manager, or taking some time out to explore your passions.
• Do your research: Once you know where your passions lie, look to your values and passions and find companies and organisations that align with these. Create a CV and cover letter that reflect this in order to stay focused on what you would like out of your role, whilst attracting the right kind of employer for you.

What once may have been considered ‘a dream job’, is now more accessible than ever, with so many routes into employment, networking opportunities (both physical and virtual), and companies making shifts towards a far more flexible and employee focused way of working since the pandemic.

So why not take a moment to reflect on your own work-life integration?

Ask yourself how aligned you feel to your role and if you are pursuing a passion, and consider making changes to align your work with your lifestyle.

Because you know what they say, “Find a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” ~ Mark Twain

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