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Why You Need to Balance Life and Work


The summer is in full swing, which means your shop is probably at its busiest. Summer also means it’s vacation season. You’ve probably done a great job scheduling your employee’s vacations, but what about yourself? Are you planning time off too?

Shop owners are among the hardest-working people on the planet. This is a quality to be admired.  However, everyone needs time away from their businesses to spend with friends and family.

Balancing work with life is your responsibility to yourself and your family. Your business must never consume your life; it must enrich it. Time goes by too quickly; trust me on this.

There are also significant advantages to spending time away from your business. You clear your mind of the clutter that occurs from the day-to-day grind, you give your body a chance to recuperate, and most importantly, you’ll build memories with your loved ones.

When you return to work, you will be more energized, with a fresh outlook on how to move your business forward. Essentially, the right balance between life and work will help you become more effective, making you more successful.

I’ll leave you with this quote: “No one on their deathbed ever said, I wish I spent more time at work.”

4 Comments


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rpllib

Posted

'HE WAS AN ABSOLUTE ACE'

‘HE WAS THE MOST OPEN AND ENGAGED SHOP OWNER I EVER WORKED WITH’

"He was a great guy, and he's going to really be missed"

This is what they will say about you when your gone. All statements spoken and written about shop owners in the last 6 weeks. All younger than me. I am 64

This doesn't sound like retirement to me. 

Take the time to live while your vertical. "TIME" is the only currency that really matters, Imo.

  • Like 1
Joe Marconi

Posted

1 hour ago, rpllib said:

'HE WAS AN ABSOLUTE ACE'

‘HE WAS THE MOST OPEN AND ENGAGED SHOP OWNER I EVER WORKED WITH’

"He was a great guy, and he's going to really be missed"

This is what they will say about you when your gone. All statements spoken and written about shop owners in the last 6 weeks. All younger than me. I am 64

This doesn't sound like retirement to me. 

Take the time to live while your vertical. "TIME" is the only currency that really matters, Imo.

Words of wisdom, and words to live by. Great comments, my friend. 

Mike DelaCruz

Posted

This is a really great reminder, and nothing short of the absolute truth!  Having a balance is key.  In the earlier days of my career, I was averaging 60 flights every year.  You might think that's a lot (Ok you're right, it is a lot), but the reason behind that was so that I did my best to never miss a moment with my girls, so I had a lot of back-and-forth trips, East Coast back to the West Coast.  I was tired, but it was worth it when I got home! I had a 3-day rule: I would never be on the road more than 3-days at a time, and I've been blessed that every company I worked for always respected that.  Sure, there were times I had to break that rule on a very rare occasion, but I didn't allow myself to fall into a habit of doing it.  This was always important to me, and it started when I was young.  My dad (now retired) spent 40 years at GM in senior management.  His work brought him to Kansas City, Detroit and Texas.  Until I was in my late-teens, I saw him once, maybe twice per year.  And back then there was no Facetime, so I was thrilled when I got a call from Pops on the landline! :)  What did this experience do for me as an adult?  It taught me the importance of keeping a work/life balance, understanding that "time" is the only thing you can never get back, and lastly making sure to be the best example for your family.  My dad and I have a great relationship now, and he learned a hard lesson from this experience as well.  C'est la vie!  As I close on this comment, I will leave you with this story:  It was my daughters 3rd birthday and we had it at a park. In order to get a good spot at the park, you had to be there as early as possible, so I was there at 6am.  Shortly after I arrived, a man and three young kids came into the park and reserved the spot next to us.  They immediately started playing on the playground, going down the slide, his kids were jumping on his back, laughing and having so much fun. This is all before 7am!  I hadn't even had my cup of coffee yet.  I had to compliment this guy on how active he was with his kids and I told him that I really admired the relationship he has with them (on the surface of course, I didn't know him personally).  He looks to me and says, "A wise man once told me, ' do you know how kids spell LOVE?"  Feeling that there was a catch to this, I paused.  He says, "Kids spell LOVE, T-I-M-E".  That will always stick with me.  

  • Like 1
Joe Marconi

Posted

On 7/14/2022 at 11:45 AM, Mike DelaCruz said:

This is a really great reminder, and nothing short of the absolute truth!  Having a balance is key.  In the earlier days of my career, I was averaging 60 flights every year.  You might think that's a lot (Ok you're right, it is a lot), but the reason behind that was so that I did my best to never miss a moment with my girls, so I had a lot of back-and-forth trips, East Coast back to the West Coast.  I was tired, but it was worth it when I got home! I had a 3-day rule: I would never be on the road more than 3-days at a time, and I've been blessed that every company I worked for always respected that.  Sure, there were times I had to break that rule on a very rare occasion, but I didn't allow myself to fall into a habit of doing it.  This was always important to me, and it started when I was young.  My dad (now retired) spent 40 years at GM in senior management.  His work brought him to Kansas City, Detroit and Texas.  Until I was in my late-teens, I saw him once, maybe twice per year.  And back then there was no Facetime, so I was thrilled when I got a call from Pops on the landline! :)  What did this experience do for me as an adult?  It taught me the importance of keeping a work/life balance, understanding that "time" is the only thing you can never get back, and lastly making sure to be the best example for your family.  My dad and I have a great relationship now, and he learned a hard lesson from this experience as well.  C'est la vie!  As I close on this comment, I will leave you with this story:  It was my daughters 3rd birthday and we had it at a park. In order to get a good spot at the park, you had to be there as early as possible, so I was there at 6am.  Shortly after I arrived, a man and three young kids came into the park and reserved the spot next to us.  They immediately started playing on the playground, going down the slide, his kids were jumping on his back, laughing and having so much fun. This is all before 7am!  I hadn't even had my cup of coffee yet.  I had to compliment this guy on how active he was with his kids and I told him that I really admired the relationship he has with them (on the surface of course, I didn't know him personally).  He looks to me and says, "A wise man once told me, ' do you know how kids spell LOVE?"  Feeling that there was a catch to this, I paused.  He says, "Kids spell LOVE, T-I-M-E".  That will always stick with me.  

Mike, your words resonate with me, and they should with everyone.  Thank you for sharing your thoughts and comments. You are right on target, and the balance between work and life is such an important topic. We need to discuss more.  We also need to prioritize: Family, ourselves, and business. 

  • Thanks 1

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