Career-Centered vs. Lifestyle-Centered Living
The Great Life Debate
I am overwhelmed with pride and joy—my daughter has just graduated from high school! Amidst the relief of her successfully passing her A-levels, a pressing question lingers: What’s next? This question echoed through the graduation ceremony, where parents like myself pondered their children's future paths—whether they would dive into further studies or take a gap year to explore and grow.
A few days later, this topic resurfaced during a conversation with a friend whose daughters are around the same age as mine. Her older daughter has been traveling the world for three years, funding her adventures with various jobs. Meanwhile, her younger daughter, who also recently graduated, is still uncertain about her next steps. It’s fascinating that while young children are often asked what they want to be when they grow up, many still don’t have a definitive answer, even many years later.
Despite the myriad career options available, most people need help pinpointing their career paths. However, their responses come much more naturally when asked how they envision their lives. This is because most people embrace a life-centered rather than a career-centered approach.
This decision-making process doesn't just affect young adults—we are constantly faced with how we want to live. Should work be the center of our lives, or do we want to live more and need work to live?
It's not only about being a workaholic or a chillaholic!
Let me explore the difference between these two life approaches and why we must be aware of this.
The Career-Centered Life
Welcome to the world where your business card matters more than your bedtime!
A career-centered life is about climbing the corporate ladder and swimming in a pool of professional achievements.
You place professional achievement at the forefront, often making work the core of one's identity and daily routine. This path emphasizes career advancement, skill development, and financial success. Key aspects include:
Professional Growth and Accomplishment: Pursuing continuous learning, promotions, accolades, and industry recognition.
Financial Stability: Higher earning potential and financial security, enabling a higher standard of living.
Networking and Relationships: Building and maintaining professional networks with colleagues, mentors, and industry leaders.
Work-Life Integration: Blending work into various life aspects, often involving long hours, business travel, and constant connectivity.
Personal Sacrifices: Potentially sacrificing personal time, hobbies, and relationships, with work taking precedence over other life areas.
Sacrificing free time and hobbies is often the topic in my coaching sessions for managers. After a steep career path, they ask themselves: “Where has my life gone?”
The Lifestyle-Centered Life
This path is about enjoying the finer things, like naps and nature.
A lifestyle-centered life prioritizes personal fulfillment, health, relationships, and leisure. Those who choose this path design their lives around their passions, hobbies, and family rather than their careers. Key features include:
Work-life balance: A balanced distribution of time and energy between work and personal life, focusing on flexibility and reduced stress.
Personal Well-being: Emphasis on mental and physical health through activities like exercise, meditation, and hobbies.
Meaningful Relationships: Valuing time spent with family and friends over professional networking.
Experiences Over Material Gains: Prioritizing travel, adventure, and cultural activities over accumulating material possessions.
Career as a Means, Not an End: Your job is a means to fund your passions, not the main event. Work supports your life, not the other way around.
What is your priority? Your work or your life?
Gone are the days when we had to decide on one path straight after school. We now have a choice and can choose again and again. There are phases of life in which we focus more on work, and there are phases in which we want to enjoy life.
Setting Your Life Compass: Finding the Perfect Balance
Many people blend elements of both to create a fulfilling and balanced life.
Strategies for achieving this balance include:
Set Clear Priorities: Determine what matters most and allocate time and energy accordingly, setting boundaries to prevent work from encroaching on personal time.
Flexible Work Arrangements: Seek or negotiate flexible work hours, remote work options, or part-time roles to better integrate work and personal life.
Continuous Reflection and Adjustment: Regularly assess satisfaction with work-life balance and make necessary adjustments, recognizing that life stages and personal goals change over time.
Mindful Time Management: Practice efficient time management to maximize work productivity and free up more time for personal activities.
Leverage Technology: Use technology to streamline work processes, reduce time spent on mundane tasks, and create more time for personal pursuits.
When you were a child and asked what you wanted to be when you grew up, what was your answer? Do you still follow your idea?
Really love this post, I am too much on the career-centered life and trying to balance it. Gave me things to think about.