The Great Wall of China is one of the seven wonders of the world and, as I recently discovered, climbing up the stairs to the point in the wall where the ‘plaque of the hero' is located is a rite of passage for the Chinese.

"You are not a TRUE MAN until you have climbed the great wall". It is certainly a feat striding up high uneven stone steps, many of the treads worn down the middle into unexpected hollows by the passage of multitudes of climbing feet over the past millennia.

How to achieve work-life balance seems to be the most pressing question for women in the workplace today but should it really be?  Shouldn't our concern be how to be high performers at work, or how to live more fulfilling lives?  

High performers seem to have fewer issues that most women when it comes to work-life balance.  Some of them will even claim that they have never experienced discrimination at work.  Why is this?

I believe it is because the question working women seem to ask is “how can I prove my worth at work while still having quality of life outside work?”

Whereas, high performing women having already proved their worth at work, can make the choice of combining their work with quality of life without damaging their career progression, or sacrificing quality of life for accolades of high position.

Whenever I am asked about work-life balance, I mention something a senior HR colleague called Ted Theodore once said to a group of us during a talk.  He stated that “women can have it all, they just can’t have it all at the same time”.  I took that advice to heart.

1.  Take EVERYTHING out

2.  Get 4 piles labeled KEEP, STORE, GIVE, THROW

3. Start Sorting your stuff (clothes, shoes, bags, socks, tights, underwear, belts, hangars)

•    ONLY keep the things that make you feel good and fit the image you want to project.

•    DON’T keep things because they were gifts, they are expensive, or you haven’t used them.