The Importance of Living by Design

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The original post focused on the negatives of long work hours, which are easy to bash. I do believe it's important to stretch the discussion in a new way. Being present and spending time with those you love is the most important thing in the end. Perhaps it's worth questioning the default setting to begin living by design rather than by default. The goal is not to sacrifice our career progression, fail to live up to our professional potential, and stop learning or growing from an effort to be constantly present with our kids.

A Reddit post I shared that read, "PSA: 20 years from now, the only people who will remember that you worked late are your kids" sparked a lot of online dialogue last week.

Our default setting of work worship may be slowly, methodically robbing us of joyful, fulfilling, comprehensively wealthy lives. Perhaps it’s worth questioning the default setting—to begin living by design, rather than by default.

I am of two minds on this: (1) Being present and spending time with those you love is the most important thing in the end and (2) Having the people you love see you work hard on things you care about is a principle they'll remember for the rest of their lives. Understanding, navigating, and balancing the tension across these two minds is how you ultimately "win" the game.