How much life do you experience at work?

We live in a period characterised by polarity and strong dichotomies.

Good vs evil, right vs wrong, work vs life.

Once you stop and reflect, you soon realise that most of these dualities do not make sense. Reality is more nuanced, and we like it in an interweaved ecosystem where these simplifications do not hold.

Let's take one of these pairs often referred to in discussions among founders: work vs life.

Do we mean that the way to find a balance is to declassify time spent at work from the expectations you reasonably put on your life? Is it reasonable to put such a large portion of your time on this planet in the "non-life" basket? (I have spent about 10% of my available cognitive life building Pilloxa.)

Life encompasses work, relationships, spirituality, value-driving activities, meaning, and much more. We should set a higher standard for what we are willing to experience at work. Allow life to permeate the time you spend at work more than the opposite. Look for meaningful, life-rich moments every second you breathe, even at work.

You can have a complete, fulfilling, fully human life experience even if your company is struggling. Right now. Just open up and look around with the same curiosity you have while looking for business ideas.

Let's look at a simple cup of coffee or tea—something you do every day, even at the office. Look closely. The room you are in; the sounds around you; the people you are sharing this moment with; the fact that those beans/leaves have touched so many lives before getting in your cup; the tactile feeling of the ceramic on your lips; the flavour in your mouths. This is available to you right now.

Bring life into everything you do.