Work-Life Balance is a Myth
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I used to strive for balance
Now I believe it’s a myth. No matter how hard I tried, I was never able to achieve that perfect moment of Zen and harmony between all areas of my life.
Instead of bringing me joy, I felt defeated – more stressed, more burdened, and more defeated. In a radical move, brought on by intense life events, I decided to stop. I’d had enough of depleting myself trying to achieve an impossible standard.
Something remarkable happened next. Once I stopped trying to achieve perfect work-life balance, I discovered a third-way rhythm and integration, “a repeated pattern of movement” where work, life, play, relationships, rest, finances, friendships, and adventure could co-exist within my experience of each day.
This utterly transformed my life. Instead of endlessly striving for something that was unachievable, I began to experience my life as a complete whole where every valuable aspect was connected and worked together. I began to discover the Divine’s presence and meaning in places I had never noticed before.
From the outside, my life looks pretty much the same. I still work a full-time corporate career. I’m still married to the same woman. I still live in the same neighborhood. The only difference is me.
I’m no longer fragmented. I’m whole and integrated.
Now, I invite you to experience the same.
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Fire your Boss
Fire Your Boss is the disruptive alternative blueprint for charting a new life-giving career path that gives you control, allowing you to set your own rules for your work life. Discover how to plot a new course of career freedom and independence, empowerment, and self-reliance. Find your smile again, rekindle your mojo, recapture the art of your work, and start enjoying your work every single day.
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Work Life Play
In my podcast Work Life Play, I interview good humans, entrepreneurs, artists, heretics, authors, liberators, adventurers, and innovators, who achieve inspiring results despite setbacks and prove that we can live, lead and succeed as wholehearted people. These interviews will illuminate the micro-adjustments you can make in your approach, your mindsets, your beliefs and habits to do work you love, live the life you want to live and play a lot more. Keep going.
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Doing the creative best with your own life
Friends, I’ve been thinking about the words of Saint Paul. He wrote this simple couple sentences that I’ve been meditating on for the last year and revisiting. He writes, “Make […]
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The Path to Restoring the Heart of a Man with Author Morgan Snyder #183
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Navigating is easier with a guide and a map. In my blog, Field Reports, I share my experiences and thoughts on living and leading with a whole heart, and creating a life where work, life, play, relationships, rest, finances, friendships, and adventure co-exist within each day.
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My friend Sam has this quote from James Michener in his Hawaiian home on the hillside above Waimea. His playful life disrupted mine more than a decade ago. I didn’t […]
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Trip Report: Alaska’s Gates of the Arctic
“Alaska’s Ultimate Wilderness,” The Brooks Range-North America’s Northernmost mountain range is home to The Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. In early June of 2021, our adventure trio Chris, […]
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Trip Report: Adventure Awaits Colorado’s Winter Backcountry Huts & Yurts
We weren’t sure if the wood burning stovetop would be too hot to serve as a griddle for our pancakes. Alex improvised by adding a stick of butter to the […]
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Pierce the veneer of outside things
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Be Who You Are And…
I came across this quote in my friend Katie Arnold’s book, Running Home. I’ve known, heard and even claimed that I’m comfortable in my own skin. I like being me. […]
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Reboot is a revolutionary, experiential, and brilliantly crafted workshop to help you rediscover what’s most important to you and stop what’s not working. We’ll dig deep together to help you get unstuck, throw off limiting beliefs, and help you architect a sustainable life you want to live.
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Energizing Keynotes for Embracing Life
Bring inspiration and energy to your event with Aaron’s signature keynotes, Rebooting Your Life and Acting Like a Pro 8 Minutes At a Time. Aaron will teach your audience how to architect their work and life for sustainable joy and to embrace the adventure of living their real lives.
Invite Aaron to Speak

Aaron McHugh was an outstanding keynote at USA Cycling’s Coaching Summit. In the coaching world it is imperative to be and act like a pro. Aaron’s anecdotal stories and life experiences were easy for coaches to understand and apply to their world. Aaron knows what it means to go PRO.