How do you balance work and home life?
The 9-5 is a compromise between trying to become truly excellent at a craft, making a living, and having leisure. Working a job that targets 40 hours a week tries to let you mostly have it all. As most compromises come with downsides, this does as well.
Working a specified amount of hours, rather than waxing and waning dependent on your needs acts as a hedge against uncertainty. You don’t have to worry about the downside of not knowing where your next meal is coming from, but you’ve kissed the upside goodbye. Rather than choosing to embrace and create that which you enjoy, you receive a steady paycheck and assurances of progression.
I imagine the rhythms of success don’t beat during the day job. Many of our best ideas grab us by the collar and shake us, in a deathly dance. Uncontrolled. They move us farther than we could ever expect, or even want to go.
When you work for your selfish desires, you lose the safety, the ability to detach. Yet, what you sacrifice at your own alter is paid back. Between the joy of building something that’s truly yours, the potential for far greater upside, and knowledge of your agency make the trade off worth it.
Isadore Johnson's Website 