When you read through many of the productivity type blogs on the Internet, one of the more common themes that inevitably comes up has to do with work-life balance. They’ll talk about balancing all of your work-related responsibilities on the one hand with all the importance home, family and “life” moments outside of the office. They’ll talk about remembering to take breaks or why staying late at work may not necessarily be in your best interest.
The thing with work-life balance is that it assumes work and life are two completely separate entities, but we all know that the division is never so clear cut. Even when you look at a more traditional job, some of your best friends might also be your coworkers. And when you go to a networking event or business dinner, you want to have a good time (life), but the interactions can have a direct impact on your career (work).
The dot com lifestyle–and the dot com mindset–is quite a bit different.
The line separating what is considered work and what is considered play becomes even blurrier and this is really a conscious decision. Using John as a prime example of this, he does what he does because he loves it and not necessarily because it makes him thousands (or millions) of dollars.
The monetization scheme for John Chow dot Com started out as a simple experiment that John did for fun and it has since ballooned into a far more lucrative venture. As a result, he gets invited to awesome seminars and workshops in the Caribbean and all around the world, all while having a great time.
You see, the dot com lifestyle was never about finding a better work-life balance. It was about gaining the freedoms of time and location so that you can do what you want, when you want, where you want. And by tweaking your approach, you can convert what you want to do into something that pays the bills. That’s why the greater goal is work-life integration, melding the two together so that there no longer is any differentiation.
In the case of Dot Com Pho, and now Dot Com Lunch, the “networking” element of the social gathering is both for fun and for business. While there are key connections to be made, it’s really just a group of friends getting together over a bowl of Vietnamese noodles. That’s integration, not balance.
I write about technology and gadgets because they interest me and I enjoy writing. I’m just “lucky” enough to convert that interest into a viable career as a freelance writer. John enjoys everything to do with Internet marketing and that has led to a very happy lifestyle for him, one where he has learned to work more efficiently so he can spend more time with his daughter at Sea World.
For people like me and John, “work” is our lives and a big part of our regular lives can also find its way into what we do for work. You don’t need to pit “life” and “work” against one another as opposing forces. When you can integrate the two together, make enough cash to pay the bills, and enjoy the freedom to do as you please, you have earned access to the dot com lifestyle.
Image credit: Johan Larsson (Flickr)
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