I was interviewed earlier this week by Adam McFarland where I was quoted saying:

“As a young entrepreneur, you will have NO work/life balance. I am very serious about this. If you want to succeed, you need to be working 24/7 every day of the week.”

I have received a lot of comments about how this is not the way life should be lived and that a person who does not set time to relax or party is not living a healthy life.  They call me a fool because I jeopardize my friendships and relationship because I work 24/7.  They say that I might be able to keep this up when I’m young, but when I’m 50, I won’t be able to keep up the same life style.

Well, I don’t plan on working 24/7 everyday for the rest of my life.  The goal is to build an empire before I have a house and family of my own.  But the theory behind not having a work/life balance has a deeper source.  It’s not that when I plan to have a work/life balance once I hit 30; it’s that I see work being a part of my life.

Seeing my product launch is much more fun and rewarding to me than going out to Hollywood and partying all night.  Working with my team till 3am in the morning is more fun and rewarding to me than going to the movies and watching some flick about someone else’s life.  Reading a book or article online is much more fun and rewarding to me than watching Family Guy on TV.  Meeting new people through Twitter or blogging is much more fun and rewarding to me than going out with the same people every weekend.  I think you catch my drift here.

I think the point of all this is that I don’t differentiate between my work and my life.  That’s the underlying concept.  People have such a negative connotation with the word “work.”  We hear it all the time: “I hate my job”; “I’m so glad it’s Friday”; “Gah! I hate Mondays”; “I can’t wait till the weekend.”  People in our society seem to think that work sucks.  My team and I are of the mentality that work is fun!  So when I say that I’m working 24/7, it doesn’t mean that I’m losing my mind, stressing out the entire time.  It means that I’m having fun 24/7.

When I do an interview, go to a mixer, meet a person online, or blog and tweet, I am working.  This is a part of my job as the Chief Marketing Officer of Future Delivery.  I consider everything that progresses my career or that develops me personally as “work.”  This is where we may argue with semantics, but work to me doesn’t have to be something that makes me money.  It can be something that expands my network, social status, or influence in the Gen-Y community.

I have a great relationship with my girlfriend.  She understands that I have a startup company and that my company is my number 1 priority.  We’re able to keep a healthy relationship because I do set time during the week to take her out on a date.  When she’s watching TV, I’m sitting next to her with my laptop doing work.  It’s actually the best relationship I have ever been in.

I’m not a fool, nor am I crazy.  This is just the life that I choose to live.  You may say, “Jun, stop working so hard all the time.  Take a break and have some fun!.”  I’ll tell you, “I AM having fun.”