Blended Living in an “Always-On” World

In their book, Career Distinction: Stand Out By Building Your Brand, William Arruda and Kirsten Dixon make the point that the lines between work and personal life are blurring; they say:

“The BlackBerry, ubiquitous Wi-Fi, and mobile phones have created a ‘work anytime, anywhere’ world. This blurring of boundaries between professional and personal life will only increase as being in the office becomes less and less necessary for knowledge workers.”

They go on to spell out the implications. First, with less time in the office, it takes a strong personal brand to continually convey the value you deliver. Second, living a life with an “always-on” career, you will want to align work with your values and passions to achieve a sense of fulfillment.

I think there is another implication…

… In this new world of work, the long-held concern with work-life balance needs to give way to a new focus on blended living. As one blogger has put it, blended living is based on the insight that work and life don’t exist in separate boxes. They naturally spill over into each other. Of course, pursuing a blended life has its own set of issues – not the least of which is knowing what you truly want in each area of your life.

No easy task.

Yet, the place to start is with clarity about your values, passions, vision, and purpose. In short, you need to know who you are and what you stand for. Having this kind of insight can help you to find sources of true satisfaction for yourself while also seeing what you bring to others. 

At all times, you are at the center of your life circle. So, if you want to own a nicely blended life, then you need to be you! 

What do you think? How are you using self knowledge to live a more blended and satisfying life?

Cross posted at A Brand You World

Comments

[Dan Schawbel]

If you are passionate about something out of work and can turn that into a business then you are in really good shape.

[Walter Akana]

Hi Dan!

Thanks for your comment! You are so right about passion driving business. As I see it, though, the same self discovery process that goes into extracting one’s personal brand produces insights that lead to satisfaction in other areas of living. Central, of course, is truly being yourself in all areas of living.

There is a great James A. Michener quote that captures this:

“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he's always doing both.”

[Katherine]

Great food for thought. I love that Michener quote and will be using it today!

[Walter Akana]

Thanks, Katherine! It *is* a great quote! Great guidance for living!