# Work-life balance versus simple tolerance

By [Mickey Mellen](https://paragraph.com/@mickey-mellen) · 2024-06-18

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[**Work-life balance versus simple tolerance**](https://www.mickmel.com/work-life-balance-versus-simple-tolerance/)

Work-life balance is one of those things that can be interpreted in many different ways. Generally speaking, I find that balance not to be in a perfect 9-5, 50/50 kind of way, but in balancing the various parts of your life as needed.

[Last year I shared Rory Vaden’s thought on this](https://www.mickmel.com/balance-doesnt-mean-50-50/), where he said:

> _“Balance shouldn’t mean equal time spent on equal activities. Balance should mean appropriate time spent on critical priorities.”_

More specifically, I find the idea of “[intentional imbalance](https://www.mickmel.com/intentional-imbalance/)” to be a great way to live, where you build your day around the things you need to get done, which might mean your work day isn’t 9-5, but is instead it’s more like 8-10, 12-4, and 6-8. Whatever works best for you is generally the right way to do it.

In [a recent podcast episode from GaryVee](https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-key-to-creating-new-customers/id928159684?i=1000657896179), he attacked the traditional 9-5 workday even harder, saying:

> _“Work-life balance to me is happiness on all equations._
> 
> _When I hear my friends or acquaintances or people in social media say things like, I worked nine to five Monday through Friday. I had great work-life balance. And you ask them, do you like your job? No, no, no, I don’t like it at all._
> 
> _I’m like, you don’t have work-life balance. You have 40 hours a week every week that you hate. That’s not balance, that’s tolerance.”_

There are times in life when we all need to tolerate the work that we do, but hopefully it’s been short-lived for all of you. I worked at Hardee’s for a little while in my teens, and it was an awful job, but it’s what I had to do until I could find a job that was more fulfilling.

If you work 9-5 at a job that you hate, that’s a tough thing to try to “balance”. The more you can find a role that aligns with your strengths and desires, the more the balance can become intertwined with your day in a way that leads to Gary’s idea of “happiness on all equations”.

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*Originally published on [Mickey Mellen](https://paragraph.com/@mickey-mellen/work-life-balance-versus-simple-tolerance)*