| Yesterday was yet another Earth Day. Given the number of sales emails offering you a small discount on some product or service in "celebration" of it, I'm sure you did't miss it.
I have a confession to make, Friend: I don't like Earth Day.
Don't get me wrong, I love my planet and aim to take care of it as best I can. But I'm not a big believer in the Earth Day celebration.
Honestly, I'm an equal opportunity "hater" when it comes to commemorative days/weeks/months for specific causes. I'm also not a big fan of: - Employee Appreciation Day
- American Heart Month
- Breast Cancer Awareness Month (even though I'm a breast cancer survivor)
One of the problems with having a special day (or month) for a cause is that they give people an "out" to not think about the important issues for another year.
But that's not why I hate them.
My big problem with these commemorative days/weeks/months is that they feed into the human tendency to oversimplify and compartmentalize.
Instead of opening up a dialogue for real discussion on the complicated issues, we end up being bombarded by over-simplistic soundbites and talking points.
And so we ignore the real issues and keep going on as-is (without any real change to behavior or discussion around realistic solutions). Kind of like how we treat our own lives, don't you think?
How Compartmentalizing + Oversimplifying Is Hurting You
How do you think of your life? Do you divide your life into separate categories, such as: - Your "work" life
- Your "personal" life
- Your close family relationships
- Your work relationships
- Your friends
- Your health
- Your finances
If you're like most everyone else, then you do this. But that's not how life works.
The truth is, life is integrated. But that's not the worst part of it.
The worst part about this is that it's hurting you (just like many of these commemorative days are starting to hurt the intended good causes they relate to).
How? Here are just a few negative consequences that compartmentalizing your life brings on: - By separating work versus the rest of your life, you're pitting the two sides (falsely) against one another. This brings guilt because you feel like you're "choosing" one side over another and negatively affecting the one you're not choosing.
- It increasingly makes you feel like work is just that... drudgery, non-fun stuff that you must do to make money and live. But the truth is, you chose your career for a purpose. There's meaning behind it that you're not allowing yourself to feel good about and enjoy.
- Your health is affected by every other "category" of your life (and vice versa). But it's difficult to fully acknowledge or be aware of when you've separated it out from everything else. And it makes you feel like you can't make time for proper self-care.
My clients often complain that they have to choose between being a good parent (and having a real life) or having a successful career. Many of them come to me thinking that they can't have both.
But that's not true, and it's a result of compartmentalized thinking.
How to Achieve Success In Both Your Career and Life
You can have a successful career and fulfilling personal life at the same time without feeling like you've had to sacrifice or settle somewhere in life.
- 5 steps to creating a more balanced lifestyle that's fulfilling and more fun;
- Why work life balance isn't about "balance" at all (and what it's really about); and
- Two common excuses that are keeping you stuck (and how to get past them).
But warning: you're going to have to start making some tough choices. Decisions that you've probably been putting off (because they're hard).
Living a fulfilling life that you feel good about requires you to choose.
Your life can't be divided into a million separate boxes. It's time to start treating it as one integrated life.
XO, | 
