However, early on in my career I understood the importance of my family and doing activities I enjoy in addition to loving my work. Time spent doing those things is what helps keep me from burning out, I get recharged after time with my family or a couple hours doing a hobby I love. The more experience I got the more I made it a priority for both myself and my staff around me. BUT I don’t strive for bigfoot, instead I choose work-life integration!
Work-life integration is more realistic for those of us in the performance industry – having my family eat lunch or dinner with me in the athletic dining hall; inviting my staff over for a BBQ to show my appreciation while also enjoying my love of cooking; etc. It takes work every day to keep my competitive nature in check and do what’s right for my performance in the long run.
Don’t get me wrong, I put in plenty of 18-hour work days when I was beginning in the industry but longevity in the performance world requires taking care of yourself just as much as you preach to your athletes to take care of themselves. Every athlete has at some point or another thought (and probably verbalized) that their coach can’t do what they’re teaching/coaching. Work-life integration is one area where you should pride yourself on doing what you teach!
