24 hours in a day, 168 hours in a week. Junior investment bankers regularly work 80-90 hours a week. Many other high profile professions require the same level of commitment. Often those on the outside claim that working 80-90 hours a week is bad/wrong/terrible/silly/etc but we’ve spoken with so many folks who say working that much has been the best decision of their life – it allowed them to develop a deep and strong skill set far faster than would have been possible otherwise. In other words, by working 2x the hours, they were able to generate 5x or more the rewards. And depending on where you are in your career, investing heavily in your skills and competence can pay dividends for a long time.

Crystalle Guss | Commercial & Residential Realtor

Balance is a myth. Hustle culture and social media tends to have us believing unless we’re dominating our industry, posting three times a day, making a million dollars an hour, using business credit to buy a Hummer, waking up at 5AM for a 5 mile run and cooking Pinterest-worthy meals that we don’t deserve grace. Some days, I will make all my calls and follow my time-blocking strategy to the T. Other days, I’m snoozing my alarm six times and eating McDonald’s on the way to a showing. I have learned to take it easy on myself. I can’t be all the things, all the time- and that’s okay! Read more>>

Stephanie McKercher, MS, RDN | Registered Dietitian and Food Blogger at GratefulGrazer.com

In the early days of my career as a dietitian and food blogger, I structured my life around work and prioritized business tasks over everything else. I learned the hard way that this mentality quickly leads to burnout and doesn’t necessarily help you earn more or grow your business more quickly. Now, I aim to integrate my work with my personal life more seamlessly. I’m much more realistic about how much I can get done in a single day, and I consider daily acts of self-care (like cooking, going for a hike, or calling a friend) to be a component of my overall productivity. For me, balance is the ability to zoom out regularly to focus on long-term goals and the wellness habits that are essential for reaching and maintaining those goals sustainably. Read more>>

Linda Hall | Photographer

Family, social, and work life is something that I am still learning how to juggle. From having a full-time career in the legal field, pursuing my passion in photography, to the everyday tasks of life, it is not easy. Overtime, I have had to learn that it is okay not to have everything evenly balanced. There will be days that my work deadlines have to be a little more important, there will be a couple of weeks where I do not feel as creative to do a photoshoot, and there will even be months where I only communicate or see my family/friends virtually. We tend to get so wrapped up on “If I finish this work project before the deadline, will I get that raise?” or “If I flake on this person again, will I stop being invited to events?”, that we forget to focus on our physical and mental health. I truly believe that balance starts with our mental health first and everything else will follow. Read more>>