Don’t Let Work Turn You Into an Axe-Wielding Maniac

Do you ever find yourself talking to ghosts or hacking through doors with a fire axe? If so, it?s time you took a break from work and threw a ball around, watched an episode of ?The Office,? played with your old Ninja Turtle figures, whatever. I?m referring to the character of Jack Torrance from ?The Shining.? If you haven?t seen the film, Jack is a writer who goes crazy working on a new book. His lunacy is exposed at the end of the film when it?s revealed that his manuscript contains nothing but the phrase ?all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy? repeated over and over again. And he wasn?t even subjected to sitting in a cubicle.

All work, no play, etc.

Working and doing it hard are the hallmarks of a man who knows what he wants and is willing to do what it takes to achieve his goals. There?s nothing wrong with putting your all into work, whether it?s starting a new tech company or organizing a pro kickball league. The problem comes when work becomes your reason for living. When living your life becomes an afterthought, there?s a problem. I should know this. As a freelancer, I often find myself working seven days a week, burning the midnight oil to pay the bills. It?s only when I realize that I haven?t as much as watched an hour of TV or read a chapter of a book in two weeks? time do I know that I?m spending too much time in work mode.

Part of being a well-rounded man is having the confidence to put down your work and enjoy life. What?s the point of having the kind of money to buy a sports car if you don?t have any time to speed down the highway at 125 miles an hour evading cops? It?s about having the confidence to stop being a stuffy adult now and then and unleash the 13-year-old inside. Sure, put on the suit and have a commanding presence at the office, but don?t have such a stick up your ass you can?t spend a few hours playing laser tag with the boys. Don?t become so work-oriented, so driven to success that you?re too afraid to post a video on YouTube of you and your friend lighting each other?s farts.

Attempting to live up to some standard of what it is to be a ?professional adult? is not the mark of a truly confident man. Again, there?s nothing wrong with being respectful and acting in authority.? It?s when you become so close-minded you can?t even breakdance at the office party that there?s a problem. People look up to those who not only take charge, but those that have the guts to laugh at themselves. You can be the CEO and still participate in a mass pillow fight and/or zombie crawl.

The rat race can have damning effects on the minds of proactive men. Don?t be that friend who can?t hang out anymore. Launch your company, build your business, etc., but leave time in your busy schedule for all-night Journey sing-alongs with your buds.