Choosing Work Around Life, Not Life Around Work (The Episode I Almost Didn't Record)

Episode summary This is a more personal episode than usual, and one Amy Green almost didn't publish. Having built a business teaching people how to work and live well, she's started to notice the early signs of chronic stress returning — the broken sleep, the creeping resentment of constant travel, the sense that the life she's built might not be one she can sustain — and rather than tidy that away, she talks through it openly. The thread underneath it is a belief she keeps returning to: that we can do great work without sacrificing our life, and that when the two collide, the answer isn't to fit life in around work but to build work around the life we actually want. It's not a neat resolution — it's Amy thinking out loud about what she's rethinking as 2027 approaches, and what it really takes to live what you teach. What you'll explore in this episode You'll hear Amy talk honestly about noticing the early signals of chronic stress a second time — and why recognising them now, when she didn't the first time around, changes what she does about them. You'll explore the tension at the centre of this episode: that the same work she loves and is proud of has quietly cost her parts of her life she isn't willing to keep trading away. You'll sit with the reframe she keeps returning to — that we're taught to fit life in around work, when it might be the other way around — and what it means to choose work based on the life you want. You'll consider why routine, predictability and consistency matter more than we admit, and why leaving the classroom didn't hand Amy the balance people assume it did. You'll get an honest look at someone deciding what comes next without closing any doors — not a resolution, but a real-time rethink as 2027 comes into view. *Key ideas from this episode You can do great work without sacrificing your life — and when you're not living that, it's worth stopping to ask why. We're taught to fit life in around work. It might be the other way around. Recognising the signs early is a different thing from ignoring them until they take years to undo. Leaving a job people assume is the problem doesn't automatically hand you the life you wanted. Living what you teach means being willing to be the experiment — publicly, and before you have the answer. Mentioned in this episode The previous episode on the four domains — feeling, working, teaming and leading well — and the "work well" thread Amy picks up again here. About Amy Amy Green is a futurist, keynote speaker, author, and founder of The Wellness Strategy. Her book The Wellness Paradox (June 2026) unpacks the six paradoxes keeping us trapped in a model of success that isn't working — and charts a different way forward. Amy works with organisations, schools, and individuals who are ready to stop chasing a version of success that was never designed to make them well. Connect with Amy Website: http://amygreen.com.au Instagram: @amy_._green LinkedIn:   / amygreen   Podcast: Rethinking Success