The Dangerous Myth of the Dream Job

_I’ve adapted this post is from_ “Timothy Ferriss'”:http://4hourworkweek.com _provacative essay_ “The Dangerous Myth of The Dream Job”::https://gigaom.com/collaboration/the-dangerous-myth-of-the-dream-job-1/, _originally published on our sister site_ “WebWorkerDaily”:https://gigaom.com/collaboration/

_Basically, Ferris pours cold water on two sacred cows of leadership/management wisdom:_
*1) Turning your passion into a company is a good idea.*
_He says it’s not!_
*2) Worklife balance is a good thing.*
_Ferriss prefers work-life segregation._

_Like I said, it’s a provative post, but we think Ferris makes points worth considering. Give his essay a read and let us know what you think._

The web offers alluring new ways of making a living, ways that may allow you to profit from your deepest passions–as a company founder, or as a webworker. Still, converting passions into “work” is the fastest way to kill those passions. What you once did for your own pleasure on weekends may be not nearly as fun once you’re doing it 40 hours per week. (More if you are a founder!) In this way, mixing business and pleasure can be a psychologically toxic cocktail.

So you’re a founder who has turned a passion into a company? What do you do now to give yourself a break?

*Don’t expect too much of your work*

I’m not saying we shouldn’t be interested in our work, I am saying we shouldn’t expect too much of it. The more unrelated demands we place on a single vehicle, the less likely that vehicle is to get us where we want to go. For example, fun sports are seldom the most efficient path to fitness. Why? they are about recreation, not the most time-efficient means of _exercising_. So mixing recreation with exercise can get you both mediocre enjoyment and mediocre results.
_(Don’t expect golf to make you fit (Tiger lifts!) and don’t expect founding a company to fulfill your social life.)_

*Aim to separate instead of integrate*

The concept of work-life “balance” is dangerous because “balance” is often mistaken to mean blending, where work and personal tasks are alternated in the same environments, or where one activity is expected to provide satisfaction in work and personal life. The Blackberry is checked while you wait for dinner in a restaurant, the laptop is cracked while your spouse waits for you in bed. The hobby you enjoyed for 10 years is now expected to pay the mortgage. This keeps your mind in the office 24/7 and co-opt the activities you once cherished for the pure joy of experiencing them. This produces—at best—a state of constant low-grade overwhelm, even if actual workload is low.
_(Compartmentalizing your personal and professional activities will help keep your mind sharp, improving your focus, whether you’re wearing your founder’s hat, or your fun hat.)_

There are examples of people who chase passions and make it work, but I’ve interviewed many millionaire passion-as-work entrepreneurs who smile for the cameras, and then tell me privately of the existential crisis they face every Monday when a reality hits: they have no escape from the office!

Focus on artful separation instead of integration, and you might—as I did—feel that an enormous burden has been lifted. And its’ OK to expect a lot out of life, just don’t expect to get all of it from your job, or your company.

Timothy Ferriss is a serial entrepreneur and the author of The 4-Hour Workweek, a _Wall Street Journal_ and _New York Times_ bestseller.

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