If you’re trying to climb to the top of the corporate ladder, working every hour that god sends you, with aspirations to reach a work-life balance in the process, maybe now is the time to take stock and ask whether what you want is actually achievable.

Nigel Marsh, author of Fat, Forty and Fired (and former Regional Group CEO of Y&R Brands for Australia and New Zealand) says for lots of jobs it is impossible to achieve that balance, so stop trying. Otherwise the result could be a successful career but an old age full of regret — particularly if there are young kids whose lives you are missing out on.

The answer might be a career that goes at different paces at various stages. Or perhaps a re-evaluation of what it is that you’re actually hoping to get out of life.

First published on CBS News