This time, I’ll talk about prioritization and its impact on work-life balance (WLB). I define prioritization as the ability to “pick your sacrifice.” That might sound blasphemous in the age of YOLO and FOMO, but the fact remains: everything in life is a tradeoff. You can’t have everything—at least not at the same time.

Do you want freedom? It may cost you security. Do you want security? It may cost you freedom. Is your priority your own happiness? It might make your parents unhappy. Is your priority making your parents happy? You may have to sacrifice your own happiness. Do you want long-term wealth? You’ll have to sacrifice short-term pleasures. To excel academically, you may have to sacrifice social skills or even health. To excel in sports, you may have to sacrifice academic success—maybe even family life. On the other hand, if you don’t have big ambitions and just want a peaceful, ordinary life without highs or lows, the price may be a lack of excitement, glory, or glamour. You might not get the respect of society, and so on.

I’ve shared elsewhere how, in the early days of my company, I pledged my wife’s jewelry to make payroll, and how I later moved the company to Kerala to honor my family’s needs—’sacrificing’ business growth in the process. I entered IT at its peak but avoided the startup and VC funding route because I wanted to run my company without outside interference. So you see, prioritization isn’t a static formula or a one-time strategy. It’s a skill—the ability to make hard choices and live with the consequences, over and over again.

Now, when it comes to work-life balance, here’s my take: it’s a modern term for an old idea—the balance between choice and consequence, cause and effect. Maybe no such balance exists. Maybe it never did. Nobody has mastered it. Nobody has achieved it. It’s an ongoing struggle for everyone—young or old, rich or poor. And maybe our mental health suffers when we pretend we can escape this struggle—that there’s some hack to achieve the mythical “work-life balance.” It’s as if we’re trying to cheat reality.

Because I don’t buy it. Work, leisure (aka “life”), money, success, health, respect—these are just tools to achieve a goal. I keep myself healthy so I can spend more time with the people who matter to me. I pursue pet projects so I can recharge and relax. I earn money to take care of my people and pursue my own interests.

So, I suggest asking yourself some hard questions—not just what your priorities and goals are, but why. Why do you want what you (think you) want? Do you really want it? What will it cost? And most importantly—are you willing to pay?