When we think about extraordinary people in the hospitality industry, people like Gordon Ramsay and Raymond Blanc often come to mind. They’ve become icons in popular culture and built business empires with enormous following. Multiple restaurants and cookbooks used to be the benchmark of extreme success, but now it is reality television shows and video games.
Yes, they are very accomplished - professionally, but without knowing more about the other side of their lives, I wouldn’t call them extraordinary. In my estimation, truly extraordinary people have successful professional and personal lives. Although we constantly hear talk of work-life balance, it is a rare individual that not only finds that balance, but maintains it. Are Gordon and Raymond balanced? You would have to ask them.
Are you trying to find your balance? Here are a few things to keep in mind:
1. You must have clearly defined goals. If you don’t know what your balanced life would look like, you’ll never have it. Balance doesn’t mean a 50-50 split between work and home. Balance means that you are able to accomplish your goals in both your professional and personal life.
2. Work-life balance is a moving target. Your goals and definition of balance will change over time, so what is balanced today may not be a good balance tomorrow. Further, pressures from both sides of your life will slowly push you away from your centre point. When you have been pushed too far to one side, you’ll wake up one morning and realize your balance is gone and it is time to re-evaluate. Imagine you’re on a teeter totter. If you’re stuck hanging in the air or your butt keeps crashing into the ground it is not going to be a fun ride. An adjustment has to be made on one side or the other to make it work.
3. You need an outside point of view. Because we are too close to our own situation, we often are not able to see what is really happening. Imagine you’re sitting on that teeter totter again, but you’re behind someone who is much larger than you and you can’t see the other end. You’re not moving and you have no idea why. You are unable to see that there actually isn’t anyone sitting on the other end. Hiring a coach or finding a mentor will give you the outside perspective you need in finding and maintaining your balance.
4. Crisis will throw you out of balance, but you can land in a better place. Crises happen; life is messy. Messy in the sense that it won’t go on as it used to. The outcome of a crisis can be very positive, but only if we make things happen for us, rather than waiting for them to happen. One of the few things you can control during a crisis is how you handle it. Most crises cannot be handled by you alone; you will need help. If we have a hard time seeing the forest for the trees in good times, a crisis really compounds the issue. With the right help, you are much more likely to come out of the crisis in a better situation than when you went in.
The current economic downturn is hitting the hospitality industry hard. Finding and maintaining a balance between your professional and personal life is going to be harder than ever. Whether you’re an independent professional, business owner or company employee, living in balance during a down economy is essential – not only for your wellbeing outside of work, but to assure you remain agile, flexible and capable of making good, values-based decisions about your professional and personal life.
How are you going to weather the crisis? Companies will become flatter, more flexible and more dispersed. Our working lives will, likewise, have to be flatter and more flexible. Few, if any, will come out the other side the same.
Now is not the time to “Batten down the hatches” and try to ride it out. You can’t wait for opportunities to knock at your door; you must go out and create those opportunities for yourself. Those that take action to find the opportunities in the crisis will likely land in the better place!
Now is the time for action …Let’s get this done!
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