How personal interests influence relationships and workplace balance

¶ … personal interests. There are four references used.

In today's world, it's important to realize that work's not everything and that you need to relax and enjoy life. Everyone has their own way to unwind and leave stresses behind. This paper will look at some of the personal interests of people, how interests can influence people and conflicts that can occur.

How Others Unwind

It doesn't matter how good you are at your job or how much you love it, you need to leave it behind now and then. Adam Kaufman, who is one of Cleveland's top realtors, works 80 hours a work, but still finds time to pursue his interests. Adam feels friends are important and makes it a point to go to dinners and movies with them. Adam also loves traveling. He is making plans to go to Israel, and one day hopes to spend his honeymoon in Australia and New Zealand.

When he's not traveling, he relaxes in Cleveland by going to the Indians baseball games. He feels watching the games "is as good as it gets (unknown, 1999)."

Sometimes people will leave their jobs completely to pursue their personal interests. In 2001, Richard Pierce, executive vice president of strategy at the software company Inktomi, left his job to spend more time with his family (unknown, 2001). Though Pierce was an important part of building Inktomi in the previous five years, he felt his family was more important.

Conflicts

Personal interests can sometimes cause conflicts. In 1998, The University of Virginia President, John T. Casteen III was faced with a dilemma. Was he complying with state and federal conflict-of-interest laws since he supplemented his income by sitting on three corporate boards. Of these three boards, two of them had business with the University (Anderson, 1998). Due to the wording of the state's laws and since the University policy didn't give him authority to negotiate or approve contracts, he was relieved to know he had done nothing illegal nor unethical. However, after this he looked at things he participated in outside his job a little closer.

The Lost Art of Communication

You may not realize it, but your television may be costing you some wonderful conversations with those around you. Though TV is an important source of news and sports, it also provides us with a fantasy world. We all need to escape now and then, but not at the expense of family and friends. It has been noted that most people would rather talk about "their personal interests, than the interests and happenings of TV characters (Hansen, 2000)." If you start a person talking about his personal interest, you can have a truly enjoyable conversation.

You may be surprised to learn you have similar interests or discover something new that you may want to pursue, thus enriching your life.

Things I Enjoy

There are things I do to take a break from everyday stresses. When the weather is nice, taking long walks or exploring ancient graveyards can be a wonderful experience. I enjoy looking into the past by going to antique stores. Hunting for old cameras is one of my favorite things to do. I now have over 50 antique cameras and the collection keeps growing.

When I feel especially energetic, horseback riding and swimming are two sports I enjoy participating in.

To keep my brain sharp, I like to do jigsaw puzzles, or play any of the vast online games that are now available.

Conclusion

No matter who you are or what line of work you're in, you need to have some outside personal interests. This paper has touched on just a few of the personal interests of people, ranging from the adventurous, to the stimulating. The main thing is getting out there and enjoying life.