Much has been spoken of keeping balance between work and family life. I’m not really an expert on balancing acts, but I do believe that I have been able to achieve a certain amount of balance in my own life.
There’s a picture, on Tim Ferris’ latest blog, of a Blackberry advertisement with the caption, “Take the whole company with you on this trip.”
…whoa…
Seriously? Why would you want to do that? I know it’s called the Crackberry and all, but I can’t believe how many people there are out there who refuse to take control of their own lives and stop allowing companies to dictate the terms of their own lives.
I’ll probably make some people angry by saying this, but if you think your life is being dictated by someone besides yourself…then you’re wrong. The only person who can dictate the terms of your life are you. You make the decision. You are the decider for your life.
You can make excuses. You can say, “But I need this job” or “I can’t find another job” but those are just your fears talking.
Decide what you want.
More time for personal hobbies?
Want to be an artist?
How about more time with your family?
I’m not yet 30 but I know that the answer to all of these questions is yes. When the company I worked for right out of college wanted to part ways with me because I didn’t want to work the same outrageous hours as the rest of the sales department I knew that it was time to go my own way.
I spent the Summer of 2007 traveling with my wife. We did the whole West Coast from Portland to Los Angeles and had a great time. On the left is a picture of me in the Redwood National Forest.
After arriving in Oregon it took a little bit of time to do it but I was able to find a job where I make a full time income on just 6 hours a day. Everyone goes home at 3 PM. Even the management. It’s a great company.
I don’t say that to brag about how great I am. What I mean to say is that I’m where I am at in my life because I intended it. I know what kind of lifestyle I want to live. I want to be able to pursue the Theatre as an art, to contribute to a meaningful world dialogue through my art, and I also want to be able to spend an exorbitant amount of time with my beautiful wife. I look at everything I do through this lens, then…
…if it doesn’t fit, then I must a-quit.
Balance comes not so much in scheduling everything the right way with Google Calendar, but in setting your sights and achieving. Right now my wife wants to play Backgammon, so I figure I’ve gone on long enough.
