Its Not Work-Life Balance with Sally Thornton
b"Today, Mike Wood is joined by Lauren Brown and together, they\\u2019ll be interviewing Sally Thornton, the founder of Forshay, who is an entrepreneur trying to make work better. Not every entrepreneur has the self-awareness to understand that they\\u2019re part of the problem - but when Sally started her company, she knew she was guilty of overworking and prioritizing work above all else. She designed her company to be different and today she shares the critical areas in which they do that.\\nWork-Life Balance is the Wrong TermThe traditional model in the western world is to grow up, get educated, get a job, work really hard, then retire. But a much better model is to learn for your whole life and work for your whole life, and critically - take care of yourself and have leisure time for your whole life, too. When we call that work-life balance, we get the wrong idea - work and life shouldn't be competing forces at all. \\nAdvice for a Recovering WorkaholicSo many people are working too much - but more and more people want to learn how to step back a little. Getting enough sleep is something we could all do a little better. Sally talks about how most of us are tired because we\\u2019re not getting the sleep we need. No one would drive drunk - but driving tired is almost as dangerous! She has an interesting tip you can use to get in the habit of getting to bed on time! We also need to exercise more - but it doesn\\u2019t have to be a dedicated workout session - getting in little bits of activity throughout the day can do wonders for your mood and energy levels. If you\\u2019ve got 7 minutes - you\\u2019ve got the time to get a little movement in. \\nMike shares a story about how challenging it can be to have time for yourself and your own self-care when you live with an exceptionally energetic 3-year old in the house. Sally talks about how to combine your different activities to accomplish more of your goals at one time, like community service with friendly hangouts, or exercise and hanging out with your kids. \\nWe\\u2019re Communicating MoreSally talks about how important it is to communicate and express our desires about what we want in our lives. She thinks millennials are particularly good at doing so - but it\\u2019s something that\\u2019s valuable for everyone. No one really wants to be nothing but the perfect worker - so why do we talk about work as if it were true?\\nThere are some generational differences in terms of practicing good self-care, and the perceived need to be constantly productive. Dealing with ageism in the workplace is an issue as well. We have norms and beliefs in our culture that will tell you all sorts of things about age and gender that bear no real resemblance to reality. By taking the human approach - that people want interesting work and to feel valued - has informed the growth of Forshay. Sally mentions that keeping a learning mindset helps you stay current as you get older. Take the time to explore your interests, the more you learn, the more it will spill into the other areas of your life.If you take anything away from this episode - keep learning, and keep finding ways to do more of the things you want to do each day, as well as the things you need to do. \\nResources:\\nForshay | Multipliers by Liz Wiseman | Sally on LinkedIn | And on Twitter"