We take ourselves with us, always.

Work and life are not separate containers of experience, and calls to find balance between the 'apparent' two are complete horse shit.

I recently commenced working with a group of long-term unemployed in Dublin, all men. These guys have had a tough life, some tougher than others, and they're trying to turn their lives around and get into stable work. My role is to coach them toward that. Coaching is not about handing someone a solution but rather helping them find the solution themselves. Often we fail to realise that the resources required are not outside us in some book, course, or inspirational speech. Instead, they are very close to home and all it takes is for someone else to point it out.

So we're working away, discussing work prospects, what their ideal job would look like, and how they might go about achieving it. It's a tough ask and there are many hurdles, not least the impact of their private lives and all the complexity of that.