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Experts Say You Don’t Want Balance. You Really Want These Two Things Instead…

There are many extremely difficult, challenging, stressful, (real stress, stress that harms your body) and challenging jobs in America today. There are jobs that produce groundbreaking results that alter how we live and there are jobs that save people’s lives. There are jobs that require 12 hours a day, every day, of backbreaking physical labor and there are people that get up and repeat that work day in and day out.

First things first…being a PGA Professional isn’t any of those things. We promote the game we love and serve the people that love to play it. It could be worse. In the grand scheme of things, no matter where you stand in this business, you have it pretty good.

Perspective is important.

BUT…for many golf professionals, just keeping things in perspective doesn’t eliminate the challenges that we face while working in this industry. The repercussions from weekends away from home, the hours in-season and the need to stay connected while away from work, are real.

When times are toughest, we feel like work is controlling our lives. We feel it’s the only thing we have time for (and sometimes don’t even have enough time for) while everything else (family, friends, health, finances) sits on the back-burner until things “slow down”.

It’s why most PGA Professionals will tell you either directly or indirectly that finding “balance” in this industry is elusive, if not impossible, but something they wish they had.

Is it possible to find true “work-life balance”? 

Most experts say no. As Jay Papasan and Gary Keller wrote in The ONE Thing, “A ‘balanced life’ is a myth — a misleading concept most accept as a worthy and attainable goal without ever stopping to truly consider it.” In reality, there will never be a time when you’re truly balanced and spending an equal amount of time in all areas of your life. And in reality, I think we all know that.

Deep down, the search isn’t for balance. It’s not to find a life where we’re spending 8 hours at work, 8 hours at home and 8 hours sleeping. Plenty of people in this world have that or something pretty close to it…and they’re still miserable.

If balance isn’t possible, what are we really looking for?

As Thanh Pham of www.asianefficency.com writes, “After years of working with clients, what they really want isn’t more free time or work-life balance…(they want) the ability to choose how they spend their time and to be in control of their schedule”.

The search isn’t for balance, the search is for two things:

Space…

And

Control

The need for space comes from feeling like your life is disproportionately focused in one area and doesn’t leave you the desired opportunity to focus on other important areas. The results are feelings of stress that can lead to discontent, complacency, strained relationships and burnout. (Learn more about “Burnout”) When work occupies not only most of your day but most of your energy and brain power, there’s nothing left for your personal life, for your family or for your friends.

And when all that’s being piled onto you comes from outside sources, without having any ability to manage the timing, the amount, or the content of it, that lack of control can leave you feeling helpless, overwhelmed, and stressed.

Many in the golf industry are still holding onto the old school macho mentality that your worth is based on the number of hours you put in. That working less means caring less. That the path to success is built on volume. While the seasonal nature of the golf business will always create demands on our time that are heavier in certain times vs. others, a senseless and unnecessary clinging to “that’s the way it is”, doesn’t work anymore.

Yes, the best professionals will put in the time, do the work and do more than most everyone else. But sustaining a high-performance level over a long period of time requires a commitment to 9 creating space and gaining control.

It’s time to focus on finding ways to create the “space” and “control” that we’re looking for deep down. Living a life with enough time to devote to what’s important to us and being able to dictate when things happen (to a degree) can make us not only better Golf Professionals, but better spouses, parents, and friends.

In this series, you will learn what experts and successful people in other industries are doing to live better lives and work more effectively.

The goal is to find something, some way, that works for you to create more space and more control so you can maximize your time, lead a fulfilling life and love what you do.

Golf Professional Growth invites you to follow along and find ways you can improve how you handle the stresses of work and life.

Get the “Balance Series” as it’s released…Sent right to your inbox.

Join Here. It’s free and it might help.

 

GOLF PROFESSIONAL GROWTH is built to serve PGA Golf Professionals that are striving to improve their job performance and improve their lives. Born out of the desire to find better ways to manage time, manage people, and manage life, “GPG” explores the methods and tactics of high performers inside and outside of the industry and shares them to help Golf Professionals get better at what they do.

Explore Golf Professional Growth HERE.

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