The following is an excerpt from an article originally published on LinkedIn, where LS&Co. leaders periodically share their perspectives and expertise on business trends, industry issues, careers and the workplace. Have thoughts or reactions to this piece? Head on over to LinkedIn to share them.
I hear people say all the time: You can’t have it all. A fulfilling career? A family? Time for yourself? Not possible. Recent Pew Research studies show that while 66% of women rate career as a high priority, 56% of working mothers say it’s either very or somewhat difficult for them to balance work and family. But maybe it’s time to stop asking ourselves if we’ve achieved work/life balance and start asking: are we living the life we want? Because the solution to work/life balance is a subjective one.
The biggest misstep anyone can make is accepting someone else’s version of what ‘having it all‘ really means—it’s up to each of us to live the life we want. You don’t need to know what you will be doing year after year and you need to be flexible when setting out on your own path. Trust me: you can live the life you want, if you’re willing to go to bat for it.
For me, that meant distinguishing myself at work. I always believed if you gave it your all, good things would happen. And that’s exactly what I found in a career that’s included more than 14 moves, stints on multiple continents, and a place at the table at one of this century’s most remarkable growth stories – Nike.
I completely embraced “Just Do It,” and just kept doing it; tackling every challenge and every opportunity with equal determination and grit. And then I found myself in my late 30’s, living in Europe and realized that when I looked back on my life, it was going to be all about work. I wanted something different.
Read Anne’s full article on LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/LivetheLifeyouWant
Photo Credit: James Jordan via Flickr CC
