Interesting to note a lot of prominent bloggers are talking about putting family first, reconsidering their career goals and thinking about the things they’re missing in life by putting work first. Some of this seems to be some kind of Jobsian awakening, sparked by the passing of Steve. Perhaps over time, the sheen of impressive achievement and adoration is fading for Steve, and people are starting to look at his life (and theirs) with more than just a hint of regret for choosing their work-life over their family.
I really can’t say what it will be like for me to approach work with a family, for me that’s some time away. What I can say, though, is that on this side of the fence I’ve made plenty of lifestyle sacrifices to create things I’m passionate about and really believe in. To me, if you don’t love your work, you’re not doing the right thing. Or, to put it another way, the best kind of work you can do should really be the things you love doing. If you can find a way to help people pay you to do what you really love, then you’re set. I think you can find a good balance of work/life commitments, and in the end you’ll regret that more than anything else if you mess it up. Still, if you’re really set on dinging the universe or making a serious mark on the world (name me an architect/designer/writer who isn’t?), there’s almost no question about it.
Getting it right, ‘feel-it-in-my-gut’ right, is hard.
