Long before anyone had ever heard of Bill Gates, Cheryl Sandberg or Warren Buffet, there was one individual who exemplified ingenuity and achievement. Throughout the 20th Century and much of the post-industrial age, Howard R. Hughes, Jr., was known as an innovator, a celebrity and a universal man.

At age 19, Hughes inherited 75% of his family’s fortune. Because he also inherited some of his father’s ambition, gift for mechanics and engineering, and entrepreneurial spirit, the younger Hughes set out to change the world.

Over the course of his long career, Howard Hughes did great things. He was one of the first major benefactors to medical research, and invested in real estate and technology. Hughes also revolutionized aviation, made big-budget films and circled the globe in a round-the-world flight in less than four days. He also married film stars Ava Gardner and Katharine Hepburn, and captured media attention at every turn for decades.

Press reports, biographical books and a 2004 film called “The Aviator”, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, all depicted Hughes’ life as both fantastic and troubled. In addition to showing symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, Hughes was also said to be addicted to medication and suffered from malnutrition.

The tale of Howard Hughes may be a rather unusual one in terms of an American business success story. Yet, in a day and age in which professionals in all sectors are still trying to master business and entrepreneurship, Hughes’ experience as a conqueror of the world could act as a cautionary tale as well.

It makes good sense to consider your ideal work-life balance and to listen to experts and other successful people about how to be your best, while remaining sane, sound and sensible in your everyday pursuits.

Balance: The Enemy of Entrepreneurship?

Just this month Inc. magazine tackled this very topic: whether balance in the work-life continuum is the enemy of productivity. Is it? Well, it depends. One perspective authored by Rod D. Martin, founder and CEO of The Martin Organization, posted originally on Quora, didn’t just throw out rosy stories about people who love their work. Instead, Martin emphasized that entrepreneurs have a unique passion and unrelenting drive to make it all work on their own terms.

Martin specifically points out that that running a business is best done when you do what you like to do. As such it should not be considered unusual that, when you own a business, you spend most of your time doing what you are good at.

Echoing perhaps the sentiment of many entrepreneurs out there, Martin put it bluntly: “I work for myself. I’ve organized my life in a way such that I am almost always near or with my family. . . . But we’re doing serious things and I work constantly and rarely let up.”

Find Within Your Work What You Love

Another perspective that Inc. advanced comes from hip-hop music mogul Russell Simmons. In a video from the Inc. website series on work, Simmons’ insight is simple: love what you do. Moreover, Simmons — an entrepreneur who started the first efforts of his record company from his dorm room at NYU — hints that you can love a variety of aspects of your work.

If what you love and do best is communicating, selling or providing solutions to help solve your customers’ problems, focus on that. Hire a bookkeeper to handle the numbers if that frees you to do handle the functions at which you excel. After all, the best part about being an entrepreneur is that you call the shots.

The Right Ingredients

Every year the big names in business news put out a list of “best companies to work for”, and often the names are familiar. A lot can be drawn from the list when you consider what makes these “good companies to work for” so attractive.

In their own version of the list published in late July, Forbes actually dug deep into what makes companies like Colgate-Palmolive, Google and companies that serve small businesses like H&R Block so great. Overall, Forbes cited flexibility as one of the key ingredients in creating a work-life balance. Of course excellent pay, a sensible commute and reasonable hours are top concerns. But when given flexibility to manage their business day and attend to the juxtaposed responsibilities of work and family, employees perform better and are both happier and more productive.

Whether your business makes you a one-person shop, or you are an entrepreneur with a small business and a handful of employees, achieving the right work-life balance is essential. Plus, it is just as important to provide it for yourself is as important to provide for your employees. But don’t forget that your independent spirit and that your desire to work for yourself (and not someone else) got you where you are. And, so did your hard work.