January 21, 2025

Work-Life Balance? High Performers Want This Proven Strategy Instead

Billy talks about the difference between the common understanding of work-life balance and the actual proven strategy that will bring you the lifestyle and living reality that you are wanting to bring about.
Billy Keels
CEO and Founder FGCP

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Going Long Podcast Episode 492: Work-Life Balance? High Performers Want This Proven Strategy Instead

 ( To see the Video Version of today’s conversation just CLICK HERE. )

In today’s solo episode of The Going Long Podcast, you’ll learn the following:

 

  • [00:17 - 01:15] Introduction to the show.
  • [01:15 - 10:48] Billy talks about the difference between the common understanding of work-life balance and the actual proven strategy that will bring you the lifestyle and living reality that you are wanting to bring about.
  •  [10:48 - 12:06] Billy wraps up the show.

 

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What you can expect to get out of this course:

  • Learn How to Achieve Financial Optionality
  • Gain True Control Over Your Career
  • Turn Corporate Skills into Personal Assets

With 26 years of experience in corporate sales leadership, achieved optionality through multiple income streams, Billy has helped dozens of executives build their paths to take control of their time.

This free course gives you everything you need to identify, plan, and take control of your career while building financial optionality, leveraging your skills, and start living your IDEAL day - today!

Go to: https://www.makeitoptional.com/  

To see the Video Version of today’s conversation just CLICK HERE.

 

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Episode Transcript

Billy Keels  0:00  

Work life balance, high performers want this proven strategy instead. Today's episode is sponsored by Billy Keels advisory services. If you want to learn more about how to make your 99 optional, just go to make it optional.com. Once again, that's make it optional.com. Work life balance, high performers want this proven strategy instead, has been inspired by a conversation. Well, actually, two conversations, one conversation that I had with a with a client of the advisory program, as well as a chat that I was having on LinkedIn. Surprise, surprise places where I like to spend, slash invest, no places I love to invest my time. And one of these things that just keeps coming up constantly is this whole concept of work life balance. And I want to share pretty painful, vulnerable story with you that hopefully is going to drive home the point, because I used to get this wrong, and I actually am finally in a point in my life where I'm completely comfortable with not only feeling this way, but sharing it here with so many of you across the globe. And I'm sure you're going to be sharing it with other people that you know. But here's the thing, so aside from these conversations and being inspired by by this whole concept of work life balance, I guess my first question for you is, have you tried to live out work, work life balance, because you're a high performer, if you have tried to work out and figured out how to actually make that happen, work life balance? I mean, how's that worked out for you so far? Because you're a high performer. You know, I used to for many, many years, especially during my corporate time, because this was a time when I was a high riser, continued to be a high performer, and also head of household, wanted to be able to continue to do all of the right things, live the moniker. Live the moniker of work life balance, so that I could say I was actually doing it, living it. And I know that there were times where I actually believed that I was and at the same time the reality was I just wanted to be able to be in a point where I was feeling calm inside and I was actually coherent with my actions, that I That's the feeling that I was having. That's really what I wanted, if you would have, like, pulled me into a deep, dark corner, like, Hey, Billy, what's this whole work life balance thing that would have been it like really, literally feeling calm inside and being coherent with my actions. Specifically I told you I wanted to share something with you. I want to be a bit vulnerable this whole thing of work life balance. I remember trying to live this out in 2016 and the reason I was trying to live it out was because this was the first time in my corporate career where I had had a massive responsibility, like just as me as an individual contributor, right? And I know I've talked about this in the past, like before, I had managed businesses or about or a business. I managed a business that was about $100 million business across Europe, Middle East and Africa. I then took some lateral moves. I then took a step back, some would say, to be able to jump forward and become managing director. I know I've shared that story here with you, but there came a point where I was also had an opportunity to sell in a different language, different culture, and it was an eight figure type of opportunity. And so when I saw this on the horizon, like, you know, I mean, it was like $25 million worth of software, is what we were selling, uh, 25 million plus. And the whole thing was, is, I knew that that could have been a reality. And at the same time, as a young father, and having just gone over my 40th birthday, it was like one of these things where I wanted to be able to be at all places all the time. And so as I was on that track, I started realizing soon on and it was a struggle, because I really wanted to be the present dad, husband, all that kind of good stuff, and really wanted to be able to drive this massive, what I thought was massive opportunity, across the finish line with a team of people that reported to me indirectly, right? So there was this, there was this challenge or opportunity to kind of prove myself at home and prove myself at the office. And so I knew that I wanted to go after that. And so I was going after that, and in the back of my mind, because I kept saying, You know what, I really want to live work life balance. I'm going to show everybody it is possible. I'm the one who's doing it. And so that's what I pushed forward on. And so it was that became my thing, that I wanted to show how to do it. But really quickly, I understood that it was going to be really, really challenging to do. So So what did I do? Just like I normally do many, many times and you've done before. I had to sit down and come up with a plan and figure out, okay, well, how can I be all places, everywhere, all the time? Well, guess what? Guess how that worked? Not very well. And typically, where the where, especially if you are coming from that kind of mentality, where you got to prove everybody that you're the reliable one. You're the one who can always make it rain. You always have the solutions you're normally. Going to show that more at the office than you are at home, because if you are always showing that at the office, there's someone else who should be or is showing that at home, right? It's just, and it may not be your specific case, but nine times out of 10 and nine of the 10 people I speak to on the phone, that's usually the case. So that's and that was, that was my case as well. But there gets to a certain point where you realize that you can't be all over the place. You can't be everywhere all the time. You know we talk about Omnipresence with you're trying to be omnipresent. Unless you're trying to do that online. It's very difficult, let me say impossible, to do that in person, in real life. IRL, in real life. Trust you enjoying today's episode. Once again, when you're ready to make your 99 optional, just go to make it optional.com. Once again, that's make it optional.com. Let's get back to the episode. So what it comes down to is actually being able to and I'm only sharing this with you because initially I didn't do it well, and that's because I was trying to be everything to everybody, and at a certain point it what it became was a matter of sitting down and having really honest conversations with family, with friends, with the bosses at the office, because no one expects you to be a perfect person. What everyone expects is clarity, and at the end of the day, clarity involves also being able to have very clear boundaries, not only setting those boundaries, but having those boundaries respected, first, starting with you, because if you don't respect boundaries, nobody else is and these are lessons that are constantly that I'm constantly working on. I'm constantly re redefining and making better, and I'm just going back to this point in time. But the real, real important conversation to have, there's two. There's one, it's with your spouse or your partner, and the other is with your direct line boss at the office. If you have that person, right? And if you're in the big corporate, which you are, you have that person. So it's really important with your partner, with your spouse and with your boss, got to get the idea of having boundaries set and respected really in place, because at the end of the day, when you're having these conversations, it's really about who does what, when, where, and how, you have to discover who does what, when, where and how, and you have to come to an agreement on that, not just say it, but agree it. And trust me, if you're anything like me, initially, when you say it and when you have these conversations, you're going to feel really, really uncomfortable, especially when it relates to being your partner, spouse and or boss, right? And probably not all the same, right? So it's either your spouse, partner or your boss, but you have to have both of these conversations. And so as you're having these conversations, it's really important, once again, to make sure that you're talking about who does what, when, where and how. These things are important, because at the end of the day, if you're looking for balance, you're going to constantly be struggling. You're going to constantly be struggling. And I said that I want to share the proven strategy, and there is a very clear proven strategy at the end of the day, because anyone who's a high performer, and I went on and on and on and on and on and had this conversation. It went on for quite a while, and the conversation is in this I can tell you, for me, like when you were in a high performing role, don't look for the strategy of work life balance, because you're just going to be the most frustrated person in the room, and everyone that loves you and cares about you, and that includes your family in your bosses in the office, because at the end of the day, everybody cares about you. But if you're if you're completely strung out, burn out, then you're not even good to anybody. So here's the thing, rather than worrying about work life balance, how about trying this proven strategy instead? Because this is one that's actually worked much, much better for me. First of all, when you put this strategy in place, you will start to realize that your boundaries are you're the person who's responsible for your boundaries, having them placed and having them aligned and having them respected. Because when you stop looking for work life balance, and you start looking for life work, harmony, harmony, life is going to get much better, not just for you, but for your team at the office and for your team at home. And what I mean by that is you have to be where your feet are and when you are, where your feet are and nowhere else. Everybody benefits everybody, because when you're at the office and you're crushing it, you're going all in on a major project, and you're there many, many hours a day. You know what's important? The people that are back at home understand who's doing what, when, where and how.

And then guess what, when that project is done, or whatever the timeline or the deadline was when that is done, then guess what? You. Your energy, effort and attention is at home, and guess what? At the office, they're going to want to understand who's doing, what, when, where and how. It's the exact same thing. You just got to flip it on its head, because you, as a high performer, you're always going to be all in on everything you do. It's just how you're wired. Ask me how I know. So that's the thing. Stop looking for work, life, heart, work, life balance, and start looking for life, work, harmony. Everybody's going to appreciate it much more, starting with you, they're going to love you at the office. Even more. They're going to love you at home. And even more, because when you're there, it's quality time. You're not your brain's not all over the place. You're not trying to be anywhere and everything to everybody, right? Trust me, once again, ask me how I know. So that's the thing. That's what I wanted to share with you today, because I know that these are conversations I'm having very, very frequently. Ditch the work life, work life balance like it's just gonna end you up in a very frustrated situation. Work on, and it doesn't happen overnight. Work on looking for that harmony in your life and in your work. It's the thing that's going to bring happiness and harmony to everybody that is involved with you, starting with you. So listen, take today's episode, share it. I know you know other high performers, they're struggling with it. I struggled with it, and I continue to work and refine this, and that's why I'm sharing it with you here today. So while you're sharing, guess what I'm going to be doing? I'm going to be right here. Yep, right here, preparing for next episode. And so until then, go out and make it a great day. And thank you very, very much. Freedom. Today's episode is sponsored by Billy Keels advisory services. If you want to learn more about how to make your 99 optional, just go to make it optional.com. Once again, that's make it optional.com. You

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Billy Keels
Strategic Advisor, Entrepreneur, and Investor
Billy is on a mission to share a roadmap and opportunities with other extremely busy, high-performing professionals on how to find freedom and live the life they desire. Listen in to learn how!
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