“I have the perfect job right now. If I got a promotion, I’d work 80 hour weeks. I don’t want that. I enjoy my life too much.” This from a twenty-something who confided to me between break-out sessions at a conference in Green Bay.
His confession epitomizes the “Live First, Work Second” ethic that is becoming pervasive in America, and not just among my generation. I’ve proudly watched Baby Boomer friends shift their lives into a lower gear. Last year, one of my friends “right-sized” to a smaller house. As she packed up her family’s life, she chose not to haul years of accumulation. “From now on,” she told her sons, “No more STUFF. Only experiences.”
Do you have a “Live First, Work Second” story? Have you made a conscious choice to lead a simpler life? Have you deliberately declined a promotion, said “No” to a prestigious job offer, or down-sized your life so that one parent can stay home with children?
