Guiding Light: A Life Of Priorities

If we don't buy into this ‘70 hour’ work week, then how are we going to live our life?

We can live our life by our priorities. A priority is ‘the need behind the desire’. If someone has a desire for a job, it is not just for the sake of the job. It is for the money, the position, a sense of contribution and independence that he/she will get in the job. The time and effort one devotes to different dimensions will depend upon one’s priorities. Most of us have a few priorities in the different dimensions of life.

These are –

Physical dimension – Health. Do I want to be fit enough to run a marathon or just fit enough to climb a flight of steps? Each one has to decide, but health is a priority.

Financial dimension - What type of comfort do I want and hence how much money will I need?

Emotional dimension – Am I happy just having friends or do I need someone special? Do I need to get married and have children? How do I engage with family members?

Intellectual dimension – What kind of work do I want to do? How much do I want to grow in my work? Besides work do I want to learn something formally/informally? Do I want to do an MBA, or do I want to just read up the latest management books and be fine with it?

Spiritual dimension – Am I just happy with some stress management etc. or listening to some good music or do I want to commit to some spiritual studies and practices?

Therefore, if one has priorities in these different areas, demanding your time and energies, it's very easy to see that a 70-hour workweek is not meant for you. It would be too unidimensional and one would not be happy with that kind of life. When we're young and starting off in our career, we may do that, but eventually we'll have to think of our life priorities for a complete life of balance and happiness.

(The writer is the founder of Aarsha Vidya Foundation. You can write to him at aarshavidyaf@gmail.com)