Work Hard, Play Hard is a commonly-used phrase in our organization. People use it to describe their Work-Life balance, and how the work ethic applied to one’s job to allows them to enjoy their passions outside of the day-to-day grind.
When looking at the Work Hard, Play Hard mentality, I found myself having a very different approach to what meant during the different stages of my life.
It doesn’t matter whether you are fresh out of college or 25 years into a career, it is important that you understand what motivates you, what environments allow you to do your best work and what things really make you “tick” outside of work. Typically when I heard the comment “Play Hard”, visions of sky-diving, heli-skiing, partying and weekend trips to Vegas popped into my head. After looking at the various seasons of my life, I realized that this motto offered so much more to the motivation and success in my life now and in the future.
If I was able to stay consistent with the “Work Hard” in my career and make sure I was always pushing myself to the next level, I would also be ensuring that my likes and loves (Play Hard) outside of work would always be fueled. The key element to the motto is making sure you explore what motivates you both inside and outside of work and do more of both.
It doesn’t matter if your Play Hard is more time gardening, a trip with college friends to Lake Havasu or a family vacation to Maine, just make sure you define what it is going to take to get you there.
So set goals in and out of work. Step out of your comfort zone to take on new challenges and, most of all, make sure that when you look back at your life that YOUR “Work Hard, Play Hard” is everything that you dreamt it to be!
