As May begins, Spain marks El día del Trabajador on the first of the month — a day to honour the people who keep our world turning. The teachers, the carers, the cleaners. The shopkeepers, entrepreneurs, parents. The ones who show up, day in and day out, often without pause, often without praise.
It’s a day that calls us to reflect — and this year, I’m feeling it deeply.
Because the truth is, the way we work has changed. Or at least, the way many of us want to work has changed. I know it has for me. After a long journey back to health, my idea of success crumbled — and something far more meaningful emerged in its place.
Work-life balance? It’s not just a trendy phrase. It’s a radical commitment. A form of self-respect. A boundary. A way of saying: I matter too.
The Old Story: Work Hard, Burn Out, Repeat
We were taught to hustle, weren’t we? That success lives at the edge of exhaustion. That if we just push a little harder, run a little faster, prove ourselves a little more — we’ll finally “arrive”.
But… arrive where, exactly?
In my past life — running an academy, dabbling in local politics, juggling family, expectations, a million tabs open in my brain — I wore every hat and tried to keep them all upright. And it worked. Until it didn’t.
My nervous system eventually handed me the bill. And that forced pause turned into the biggest turning point of my life.
I began asking quieter, wiser questions.
What kind of life am I actually building?
What am I working for?
Who do I want to be — not just as a mum or partner or coach, but as a person, even in the way I show up to work?
A New Way to Do Business
These days, my work looks nothing like it used to. And thank goodness.
Now, as a life and business consultant, I work with people who are ready to come back to themselves. To their values. Their energy. Their why. Because balance isn’t about splitting time equally between work and life — it’s about making sure those parts of you aren’t constantly fighting for your attention.
It’s about integration.
About building a business that supports your life — not one that swallows it whole.
It’s about creating space for slowness, softness, and stillness… and letting those things count as productive.
It’s about being honest — sometimes brutally — about what’s fuelling you and what’s quietly draining you.
That might look like pausing for a proper lunch instead of shoving a snack in your mouth at your laptop.
It might mean turning down the shiny opportunity that actually makes your stomach twist.
It might mean burning the old script and writing a new one that actually feels like you.
Because Business Is Always Personal
Here’s something I wish we heard more often: your business is personal.
It lives in your body. It weaves through your relationships. It impacts your nervous system. And if we’re not careful, it can disconnect us from the very life we’re trying to build.
That’s why I work the way I do — bringing both life and business into the room. Because they’re never really separate.
At a recent retreat, one of the women told me, “For the first time in years, my business makes sense again — not because it’s perfect, but because it finally feels like mine.”
That, to me, is balance. Not a rigid routine, but a deep connection to yourself inside the work you do.
A Gentle Invitation
So, as we honour the workers around us — and reflect on our own role in this big, beautiful, messy world of doing — I want to invite you into a softer kind of question:
What does balance feel like for you?
Not what it looks like on a planner.
Not what it should be.
But how it actually feels — in your body, in your bones, in your breath.
Is your work supporting the life you want to live?
Are your values alive in your daily rhythm?
And are you allowing yourself the joy, rest, and spaciousness you deserve?
Because you don’t need to hustle harder to be worthy.
You don’t need to do it all to be enough.
You just need to be connected — to your work, your values, and most of all, to yourself.
Here’s to rewriting the story of work with more heart.
Here’s to honouring everything you do — and everything you are.
With love and gentle fire,
Gemma Lea Edelman
Life Business Consultant
Helping people love themselves and connect with the world
https://www.instagram.com/gemmaleaedelmancoaching/
