To be clear, I’m not advocating that you should give up your quest to have a fulfilling career and a thriving personal life, and I am definitely not saying that you have to give up one to have the other. I also acknowledge that we have a work-life problem, but I’m arguing that the concept of balance has never been helpful, because it’s too limiting.

You see, our language makes a difference, and how we refer to things matters because it affects our thinking and therefore our actions. My son is learning about linguistic determinism in school. (Yes, it sounds fancy, and it is.) The idea is that that the words we use shapes how we think. Inuit people have 50 different words for snow, and the Sami, who live in Norway, Sweden, and northern Finland have 1,000 different words for reindeer. Their needs to know, survive, and understand the environment shapes their language. The way they speak and express ideas affect their thinking and actions.

You might be wondering, what’s wrong with the word “balance”? And what are these alternatives that supposedly help us frame the work-life problem better? Here are three compelling reasons.

1. Work-life balance artificially separates work and life

At the minimum, most of us work because we want to be able to support ourselves, our families, and the people around us. In the ideal world, we’re all doing work that we’re proud of and that provides meaning and purpose to us. But even if your job doesn’t give you shivers of joy with each new day, working is a part of what each of us does and the contribution we make to society.

When you separate work and life, it’s a little bit harder to make that connection. But when you think of work as part of a full life and a holistic experience, it becomes easier to see that success in one aspect often supports another.

2. Work-life balance suggests a precariousness that isn’t helpful

Losing your balance and falling isn’t pleasant. A goal to balance suggests that things are hanging in the balance–or could quickly get off balance, and that causes terrible outcomes.