I have been working with my wife on achieving balance in my life. I owe her a huge debt of gratitude for everything she is and everything she does for me. Besides being the love of my life, she is my trusted sounding board for all of my crazy ideas. She gives me great feedback and has learned when to push and when to give space.

She is not shy about pointing out that I have a problem in finding work/life balance. The question I haven’t figured out is Why? I guess I’ll have to leave that to my betters (although without understanding why, I feel that I lack the appropriate tool to analyze what is really going on with me.).

In his material, Neil Anderson has expressed the basic human needs as identity, significance, acceptance and security. I’m sure that a key is in there somewhere. A job can can give the illusion of meeting these needs, especially in areas where we have worked hard to gain expertise and are valued and complimented on successes. Perhaps it is OK to say that a job does cover some of the ground in meeting these needs. If your work place makes you feel insignificant and anonymous, insecure and disconnected to yourself and your passion; it’s time to move on.

Part of the problem is this: I don’t usually feel as if my life is out of balance. I chalk it up to working in a demanding area. One can admit there is a problem – the evidence is there, your most trusted friend confirms it – but you don’t live in a constant awareness of it, so you easily fall back into your habitual patterns.

I know I’m not alone. What to do?

Keep thinking! Continue reading.