Rethinking Success to Reduce Work–Life Tensions

Abstract

Balancing professional success with psychological well-being can be a challenge for faculty and professional staff in pharmacy education, as the pursuit of “balance” often creates tension across both personal and professional domains. This struggle stems from a bifurcated view of success that elevates productivity and career achievement above well-being. As work demands increasingly spill into personal time, faculty face an ongoing psychological negotiation of identity, priorities, and purpose. We argue that while the opportunity costs of career choices are inevitable, this tension can be mitigated by adopting a more holistic definition of success. Rather than delaying fulfillment until professional milestones are achieved, we propose embracing a mindset centered on life satisfaction, understood as a measure of well-being across interconnected domains such as career, relationships, health, leisure, and personal growth. Evidence from the behavioral sciences supports this integrated approach, demonstrating that life and work engagement are mutually reinforcing. Viewing success as a single, encompassing objective rather than as competing segments offers a clearer sense of direction and helps guide decisions according to one’s personal values. To support this shift, faculty should recognize the psychological forces that shape their choices. We discuss how the paradox of limitation, arrival fallacy, and social comparison theory can distort work–life decisions. By intentionally reframing success in the context of life satisfaction, faculty can choose to craft a career that supports meaningful, holistic, and sustained fulfillment.