Raj Shamani’s take on work-life balance sparks online debate: ‘Nothing extraordinary has come from a balanced life’ | Today’s news
Podcaster and entrepreneur Raj Shamani sparked an online conversation after sharing his personal blog and claiming that a “balanced life” is mathematically impossible. In a lengthy post, he challenged the popular idea that people can successfully divide time and energy equally between work, relationships, health, hobbies and rest, saying that the search for the perfect balance often leads to unnecessary guilt rather than fulfillment.
Shamani began by describing a feeling familiar to many adults—the feeling that we are not doing enough. He wrote that hectic work schedules often come at the expense of exercise, relationships can cut into time with friends, and hobbies are put on the back burner as responsibilities grow.
Contrasting adult life with childhood, he recalled a time when school, play, family and rest naturally existed in harmony without careful planning. Balance, he says, has now become an ideal that many people chase but rarely achieve.
The entrepreneur claimed that attempts to create a balanced life often start with counting 168 hours per week. On paper, after accounting for sleep, work, and commuting, it seems like there’s plenty of time left for family, fitness, hobbies, and a social life.
But he said that calculation ignores an important reality — not every hour carries the same amount of energy.
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Time has never been the currency of a balanced life; it was energy”
The shaman explained his point, saying that an hour in the morning is very different from one late at night after a hard day at work. He pointed to the role of the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for focus, decision-making, creativity and emotional presence, and said it operates on limited energy that is depleted during the day.
He argued that “the currency of a balanced life has never been time, but energy,” adding that energy runs out faster than time and cannot simply be replenished because it requires a schedule.
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‘pie chart’
Shamani further challenged the common “pie chart” view of life, where work, health, relationships and personal interests are expected to receive equal attention. He said that any meaningful area of life requires full commitment rather than just a small share.
According to him, a career built on ambition, a healthy relationship and maintaining good physical health requires more than a person can realistically give at the same time.
He also suggested that balance is only visible in the long run. While months or years may seem balanced overall, individual days are often dominated by work, family obligations, illness or unexpected crises.
In the final part of his blog, Shamani argued that the desire for balance is often the fear of making difficult decisions. He wrote that extraordinary achievements and deep relationships usually come from periods of intentional imbalance, when one priority temporarily trumps others.
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“Nothing extraordinary has ever come of a balanced life,” he wrote, adding that people end up choosing between “the imbalance of the person who chooses” and the “imbalance of the person who gets distracted in everything.”
How social media users reacted:
The blog drew widespread response from readers, many of whom said the article resonated with their own experiences.
One user wrote: “I agree that we can’t give 100% of ourselves to everything at the same time. Our energy is limited. But I think there’s another layer to this conversation: the mind.”
The commentator added: “There cannot be one universal definition of a balanced life, because there cannot be one universal definition of a meaningful life.”
Another reader said: “As someone who really keeps running after finding the right balance every day to fit into every aspect of her life, I have to say this was put in so beautifully. It resonates so well.”
The user added: “Many times I feel guilty about this but reading the article makes me feel lighter now. My chapter will surely turn around in the long run. Good things take time and all I need is to stay consistent.”
