In their book, Career Distinction: Stand Out By Building Your Brand, William Arruda and Kirsten Dixon make the point that the lines between work and personal life are blurring; they say:

“The BlackBerry, ubiquitous Wi-Fi, and mobile phones have created a ‘work anytime, anywhere’ world. This blurring of boundaries between professional and personal life will only increase as being in the office becomes less and less necessary for knowledge workers.”

They go on to spell out the implications. First, with less time in the office, it takes a strong personal brand to continually convey the value you deliver. Second, living a life with an “always-on” career, you will want to align work with your values and passions to achieve a sense of fulfillment.

I think there is another implication…

… In this new world of work, the long-held concern with work-life balance needs to give way to a new focus on blended living. As one blogger has put it, blended living is based on the insight that work and life don’t exist in separate boxes. They naturally spill over into each other. Of course, pursuing a blended life has its own set of issues – not the least of which is knowing what you truly want in each area of your life.

No easy task.

Yet, the place to start is with clarity about your values, passions, vision, and purpose. In short, you need to know who you are and what you stand for. Having this kind of insight can help you to find sources of true satisfaction for yourself while also seeing what you bring to others.

At all times, you are at the center of your life circle. So, if you want to own a nicely blended life, then you need to be you!

What do you think? How are you using self knowledge to live a more blended and satisfying life?