from Hacker News

Work-life balance: A perspective from Jack Nicklaus

by simplegeek on 8/29/21, 12:26 PM with 34 comments

• by hn_throwaway_99 on 8/29/21, 2:19 PM

  While I think Nicklaus' mindset is commendable, I also think there is a real danger trying to think his lessons are widely applicable.

  Jack was by far the best golfer of his era, and he made many millions of dollars playing a game he loved, so he could easily afford things like having his family travel with him everywhere. For nearly all others caught up in the rat race with an unhealthy work-life balance, they can't say the same.

  I'll just speak personally for myself, but I know some of my tendencies to over-commit to work are because I, just like Jack, want to be really great at what I do. But at the same time, I don't have anywhere near the same level of comparable talent in my field, so I have to work much longer at it, and I'm still rarely satisfied with the results.

  It kind of reminds me of stuff I've read about Usain Bolt, that he's really chill and laid back. When you know you have the innate gifts to never lose, it's easier to feel that way.

• by WhompingWindows on 8/29/21, 2:18 PM

  Must be nice to be extremely wealthy and the greatest ever at a game you've always loved. Unlimited money to fly your kids around to wherever you are "working", huge flexibility of schedule when you're not playing the game, huge relief of stress by doing what you love.

  The basic insight, that happiness comes from family, is a truism at this point.

• by listenallyall on 8/29/21, 6:10 PM

  I think people are vastly over-estimating how much prize money Jack Nicklaus was winning. His grand total from winning his first 5 Masters -- an unprecedented feat -- was $120,000. Golf in his era wasn't even close to the sport today where #112 on the money list is a over a million bucks.

  Golfers also have a huge built-in cost structure that team athletes don't. Coaches, caddy, doctors, are all paid for by the golfer. Team plane and team hotel? Nope, golfers pay their own travel expenses. Guaranteed contracts? Lol. If you don't perform, you don't get paid. Any injury -- major or minor -- that would sideline an MLB or NBA player (at full pay), means zero revenue for the golfer. It's no surprise that golfers seek out sponsors,.not just for the extra income but to provide some income stability and to offset all these enormous costs.

• by dvtrn on 8/29/21, 4:38 PM

  Work serves an important purpose in our life. It not only helps us create value, but also helps us learn from people and experiences. So yes, work is important, but not most important. It deserves our attention, but not the whole of it. Our family, not our work, comes first.

  I love this thinking and wish it would take more of a precedent versus finding new ways to describe and justify why work should be the central meme of our societal-existence. I recognize that work has its place in our lives, but I also maintain a lot of mental well being by reminding myself that work is not the total sum of meaning in our lives.

  That includes this seemingly in vogue reframing of work away from "work-life balance" to "work-life blend" of the last several years[1].

  The last thing I want is to 'blend' work with life, because then all compartmentalization goes away, the already faint demarcation lines that exist between employer and employee grow even fainter, and boundaries become problematic to enforce.

  The leadership and management class enjoy 'work-life-balance' and 'work-life-blend' in very different ways than the rank and file cadre and I wish there was as much writing about that as there was about how I should strive for "blending" my work life with my life life.

  [1] https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=work+li...

• by ramesh31 on 8/29/21, 4:34 PM

  >It includes David’s interview with Jack Nicklaus, who is one of the greatest golfers of all time. I recently learned that even Tiger Woods is behind Jack Nicklaus in terms of major titles won.

  This is a lot like saying Larry Bird was the best shooter in the history of basketball. The game was different then, and far less competitive.

• by chrisstu on 8/29/21, 3:56 PM

  Surprisingly few mentions of the orange elephant in the room here. Perhaps Don Jr shot the elephant on a "hunting" trip.

• by blisterpeanuts on 8/29/21, 2:38 PM

  These responses just make me sad. Family is, by far, the most important and redeeming thing in my life. We have one child, an amazing and talented and beautiful girl, who along with my wife is worth more to me than all the money in the world. You could offer me $50 billion in exchange, and I would turn it down.

  Unfortunately, this concept is unknowable until you experience it for yourself. That is why our civilization is in trouble; when people choose not to raise a family, they forego a natural and essential part of life, they have little understanding or empathy for those who do have children, and society becomes ever grimmer and coarser as a result.

  Mr. Nicklaus could be a millionaire or a poor man and his words would ring just as true.