WORK-LIFE BALANCE

WORK-LIFE BALANCE

Along the same lines as my writeup on Uncertainty, there are certain patterns of thinking that have been subconsciously engrained over the course of many years into the minds of most people. One of the most pernicious thought patterns is the understanding of input-output relationships. This thought pattern would look like you showing up to a job and accomplishing one thing over the span of eight hours. Furthermore, at the end of those eight hours, being compensated accordingly. Fundamentally it is the difference between being busy, and being productive.

When building a company, no one cares how many hours you have to work to get a job done. The only concern is that the job was done. This idea becomes a problem if you start a company with the expectation that you will not have to work past the hours of 09:00 - 17:00 for five days a week. This simply is not reality.

Understand that the concept of "work-life balance" only came to public consciousness in the 1980's through the Women's Liberation Movement. A movement of which was incestuously intertwined with the communists of the day. A simple search query of "Women's Lib Communism" will return more evidence than I could than is feasible for me to share at this time. Now, why am I bringing this point to bear? Because I believe that a strong case can be made for the idea itself being the manifestation of communism. An idea with the intention of undermining Western capitalist society. After all, entrepreneurs are the bedrock of that society, and how many potential companies have been destroyed with an incorrect understanding of what is required to build an actual company? My guess is many.

Moreover, the concept of weekends is balderdash when attempting to build a company. The concept of a weekend was made mainstream by Henry Ford in the 1930's. His assembly line production increased productive capacity to such an extent that the only way to increase it was by paying workers more, while having them work less. As a byproduct, he also created the necessary demographic to buy his automobiles. To best illustrate this point, take a look at it from these two perspectives.

1). Weekends make up 104 days of the year. That accounts for 29% of your time when Federal holidays are subtracted. If business is a zero-sum game (which I believe that it is), then you and your competition are fighting over the same pool of customers. If one has an extra 15 weeks to get business, that individual is going to win.

2). If you are receiving leads over the two days of the weekend, that remain stagnant until Monday you are going to lose deals. Logically it will take the first two days of the week to make up for this immediate deficit, meaning that you are only moving forward three days out of the week. This winds up putting you in a 64% deficit compared to your competition working every day.

Those two points would explain the popularity of the phrase "Weekends are for the weak." amongst professional salesmen.

In closing, it is worth noting that this lifestyle is not for everyone, and is near impossible if you are not deeply interested in what you do. In the words of the late Steve Jobs: "Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do."