Redefining the Grind: Shalom Lamm on Why Founders Need Purpose, Not Balance

For years, entrepreneurs have chased a mythical ideal: work-life balance—the perfect equilibrium between crushing goals and enjoying life. But in reality, especially for startup founders, balance often feels like a mirage. The late nights, the endless pivots, the emotional highs and lows of building something from nothing—it’s not just a job. It’s a lifestyle.

So what if work-life balance isn’t just hard to achieve, but fundamentally the wrong goal?

Shalom Lamm, entrepreneur and founder of the historical nonprofit Operation Benjamin, argues that the pursuit of balance is often misplaced. Instead, what founders truly need is alignment—a deeper connection between what they do and why they do it.

In this post, we explore why traditional notions of balance fall short for entrepreneurs, and how Shalom Lamm’s purpose-driven approach offers a better path forward.

Why Work-Life Balance Doesn’t Work for Founders

Let’s be honest: when you’re launching a startup or leading a mission-driven project, your work rarely fits neatly into a 9–5 schedule. And that’s okay.

The concept of work-life balance assumes a clean divide between “work” and “life,” as if they’re two opposing forces constantly in need of correction. But for founders, those lines are blurry by design.

“You don’t just clock out from a mission,” says Lamm. “If you care about what you’re building, it becomes part of who you are. And that’s not a flaw—it’s a feature.”

This insight comes not just from Lamm’s business ventures, but from his work with Operation Benjamin, which seeks to correct historical injustices by identifying Jewish American soldiers buried under incorrect headstones and replacing them with markers that reflect their true heritage. It’s deeply meaningful work—and it demands persistence, research, and emotional resilience.

“There were days when we’d uncover a story that changed everything,” Lamm recalls. “I wasn’t thinking about balance. I was thinking about doing what’s right.”

The Problem with Balance as a Metric

Here’s why chasing balance can actually backfire for entrepreneurs:

• It creates guilt. If you’re constantly measuring your success by how evenly you divide time, you’ll always feel like you’re falling short.
  
• It overlooks purpose. Work that energizes you doesn’t need to be “balanced out” the same way draining work does.
  
• It ignores seasonality. Some phases of entrepreneurship demand hustle, while others allow for rest. True sustainability comes from honoring the season you’re in—not fighting it.
  

Shalom Lamm puts it plainly: “It’s not about balancing hours. It’s about aligning energy and values.”

What Founders Actually Need Instead

Alignment Over Balance

Instead of trying to balance work and life, founders should seek alignment—making sure their professional efforts support the kind of life they want to live and the kind of person they want to be.

For Lamm, Operation Benjamin isn’t just a nonprofit. It’s a personal mission born from a commitment to justice, history, and identity. That level of alignment makes the work sustainable—even when it’s intense.

 Boundaries That Protect Energy

Rather than evenly splitting time, successful founders set boundaries that protect their creative and emotional energy. That might mean no calls after 8 p.m., or it might mean a weekend retreat to recalibrate after a product launch.

Lamm emphasizes being intentional with time: “You don’t need rigid schedules, but you do need rituals that renew you.”

 Purpose as the Anchor

Purpose-driven entrepreneurs, like Lamm, know that meaning is the best antidote to burnout. When you’re doing work that matters—whether restoring historical truth or launching a product that solves real problems—it fuels you in ways a paycheck never could.

“I’ve never felt burned out from purpose,” Lamm says. “Overwhelmed, sure. Tired, yes. But never empty.”

How to Design a More Aligned Founder Life

1. Audit Your Energy, Not Just Your Time
   Track which tasks energize vs. drain you. Realign your calendar accordingly.
   
2. Reconnect to Your Why Weekly
   Remind yourself why you started. Journal it, say it aloud, or share it with your team.
   
3. Design Around Impact, Not Just Output
   Focus on work that moves the needle—not just what fills your hours.
   
4. Embrace Seasons of Hustle and Rest
   Be okay with sprinting—so long as you also schedule recovery.
   

Final Thoughts: Mission Over Metrics

In a world obsessed with optimization, metrics, and productivity hacks, it’s easy to forget the most powerful force in entrepreneurship: meaning. Founders are constantly encouraged to move faster, scale quicker, and do more with less—but in that pursuit, they often lose sight of why they started in the first place. Meaning isn’t a luxury—it’s the foundation of sustainable effort, creative resilience, and true fulfillment. Shalom Lamm’s journey with Operation Benjamin is a powerful testament to that truth. His work, rooted in justice, history, and honoring legacy, shows that when your mission is deeply personal and purpose-driven, it doesn’t just guide your decisions—it fuels them. It becomes the compass that keeps you grounded, even when the path gets difficult.

He doesn’t chase balance. He builds with purpose. And that makes all the difference.

So if you’re a founder feeling guilty about imbalance, ask yourself: Is my work aligned with who I want to be?

If the answer is yes, then maybe you’re not off-balance. Maybe you’re exactly where you need to be.