Building for the Long Term
Part 3: Observations from Europe In my first article, I reflected on Europe’s healthier rhythm of life compared to North America, where hustle culture often […]
Insights
This summer (2025), I had the privilege of traveling across Europe, visiting Rome, Venice, Lucerne, Paris, and London. To me, travel always offers cultural richness and is professionally energizing, but this particular trip offered me something more, perspective. By stepping out of the routines and expectations of North American life, I was able to see what we take for granted, and what other cultures do differently.
What struck me most was how different the rhythm of life feels compared to home. Observing daily routines, business practices, and cultural norms abroad highlighted contrasts that speak volumes about where Canada stands today, where we may be headed, and what kind of society we ultimately want to build.
In Canada and the United States, hustle is part of our identity. We glorify busyness as if it were a badge of honor. Packed calendars, late nights, and the endless pursuit of “more” are often celebrated as the signs of ambition and success. For many entrepreneurs and professionals, work is not just part of life, it becomes life itself.
This is not to say hard work doesn’t matter. It does. But in North America, hard work has become the baseline expectation, the price of admission simply to keep up with basic bills or career advancement. Success is framed as the reward for sacrifice, and sacrifice almost always means time away from family, stress, and little left for the rest of life.
But this comes at a cost. Rising rates of burnout, anxiety, and disengagement show that the hustle model is cracking. Gallup’s most recent State of the Global Workplace report revealed that North America records some of the highest daily stress levels worldwide. Even more troubling, younger generations are skeptical of whether this effort leads anywhere meaningful. Many youth in Canada and the United States feel the dream of upward mobility is slipping away, replaced by an economy defined by high housing costs, limited job security, rising debt, and political uncertainty. The ladder of opportunity feels increasingly out of reach, and the belief that hard work will automatically translate into stability and prosperity no longer rings true.
The traditional promise that hard work would reliably lead to stability and prosperity no longer feels credible.
Europe tells a different story. In Rome, I watched shop owners pause to genuinely connect with customers, savoring conversations rather than rushing transactions. In Venice, artisans displayed patience and pride in their work, even if they only served a handful of clients in a day. In Paris, long lunches weren’t indulgences, they were rituals; affirmations of life beyond work. And in London and Lucerne alike, evenings seemed to belong not to email inboxes, but to families, friends, and communities.
This isn’t to say Europeans avoid hard work. They do work hard. But their relationship with work appears more integrated into life, rather than standing in opposition to it. Vacations are non-negotiable. Quality often takes precedence over speed. Productivity is not measured in terms of hours but in terms of sustainability.
What I witnessed was a broader cultural appreciation for balance, for having less, but better, and for resisting the constant race for more.
This cultural difference raises big questions for us here at home. If our current model is leading to stress, disillusionment, and widening inequality, then how sustainable is it? And if other societies are demonstrating that balance and prosperity can coexist, why shouldn’t Canada learn from that example?
The answer is not to abandon ambition, but to redefine what ambition looks like. Imagine a Canadian economy where productivity is measured by long-term impact, where workers have the time and space to innovate, and where prosperity is not tied to how fast or how much we can consume, but by how well we live.
We often talk about “slowing down to speed up” in business strategy. Europe demonstrates this principle in real life. By slowing down to prioritize quality, connection, and sustainability, societies can build stronger foundations for long-term growth.
At 6P, balance is not an afterthought, it is part of how we define success. From the beginning, we have believed that great work does not come from burnout, it comes from clarity, creativity, and well-being. Of course we work hard for our clients, and there are moments of intensity, but we understand that our best ideas and strongest strategies come from minds that are rested and energized.
We encourage our team to make space for life outside of work, to recharge, and to return with fresh perspective. This is not just about wellness, it is about performance. When people have room to breathe, they can think more deeply, collaborate more openly, and build work that has lasting impact.
By prioritizing balance, we are not stepping away from ambition. We are sustaining it. And that, in many ways, reflects the very lesson Europe underscored: when you protect space for life, you create the conditions for your best work to emerge.
This was just the first of several observations from my time in Europe. In my next piece, I’ll explore another lesson that stood out to me: the role of small business as the beating heart of European culture and economy, and what North America risks losing if we allow too much corporate consolidation to define our future.
Question for you: What do you think: Can Canada adopt more of Europe’s balance without sacrificing productivity or ambition?
If you enjoyed this, click here to read part 2.
Part 3: Observations from Europe In my first article, I reflected on Europe’s healthier rhythm of life compared to North America, where hustle culture often […]
Part 2: Observations from Europe In my previous article, I reflected on Europe’s different rhythm of life compared to North America, where work is more […]
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