The other day I was catching up with a very accomplished technology executive who was at a loss in forming her next professional moves because everything she prioritized right now pointed to her personal fulfillment – getting back into shape, focusing on family, travel. It made sense in a way since she had been working in the high-growth start-up space for the last few years and had overly focused on the professional side. Shifting her attention to personal fulfillment would bring her back into equilibrium. However, trading a single-minded focus on professional goals for a single-minded focus on personal ones is just one way to achieve both. Here are three other ways to balance between professional and personal fulfillment:

Take a sabbatical from professional to personal fulfillment (or vice versa)

Like what the tech executive is considering, my recent Forbes profile of poet Deborah Kahan Kolb is an example of someone who has already alternated between professional and personal fulfillment. In Kolb’s case, she juggles both the professional and personal – it’s just the focus that shifts. At one time, her family was front and center with writing on the side. Now, she still has a family but with a new book out, she’s making a push there. If your career, finances, and family obligations allow, you might consider an outright sabbatical where you stop working for a period of time to focus exclusively on something else. Or you might give up the lead role in the family to focus on career. One dual-career couple with two young kids coordinates when each of the two makes a big job move so that the other takes over at home.

Read two more ways to achieve both professional and personal fulfillment in my blog:

http://www.sixfigurestart.com/life-coaching/professional-personal-fulfillment/