Quality of Life - The True Value of Success
My son plays baseball for his school's team. Last Saturday, he had two games in one day - a double-header. The first was at 11:00 am. I arrived at the baseball field ten minutes early. But when I got out of my car, I thought maybe I had the wrong time. The players were practicing, but the stands on my team's side were empty except for one man.
My son plays baseball for his school's team. Last Saturday, he had two games in one day - a double-header.
The first was at 11am. I arrived at the baseball field ten minutes early. But when I got out of my car, I thought maybe I had the wrong time.
The players were practicing, but the stands on my team's side were empty except for one man.
I approached him and said, "Excuse me, the game does start at 11, right?"
"Yes", he said.
"Well, where are all the parents?", I said.
"You're the only one here so far", he said.
"But you're a parent, right?"
"No, I'm the bus driver."
So, I sat down and watched my son's game, not thinking too much more about it.
At about 11:30, I noticed that still no parents had shown up. True to form, I started doing an analysis of what's going on. (I'm always analyzing. I just can't stop.) I started to count players. Twelve on the team. One parent.
Hmm.
I turned back to the bus driver.
"Hey", I said, "why do you think I'm the only parent here?"
"Well", he said, "it's a gorgeous warm and sunny day. The other parents are probably cutting their lawn first, running their Saturday errands, and will most likely show up for the second game at 1pm."
"Okay, I guess that makes sense", I said. But, something still gnawed at me.
Fast-forward to 1pm. Second game begins. Stands still empty.
1:30pm. No change. Still just me and the bus driver. And my voice was getting sore because I had to do the work of an entire crowd. (Although I am a pretty good rooter-and-tooter.)
Behind the elation of being there and watching my son and his team make some amazing plays, I felt something else. I couldn't quite put my finger on it.
When the game ended (my son's team won), I identified what it was I had been feeling -
Sadness.
I understood why I was the only parent there, and it saddened me.
I know many professionals (both real estate and non-real estate) who work on Saturday. Sunday too.
Don't get me wrong. Work is important. A strong work ethic is lacking in many people. I applaud hard workers everywhere.
And I understand that maybe the parents just couldn't get to that particular baseball game for one reason or another. Stuff happens. I know.
But-
It would be nice to see more people make it a priority to make it to their kids' games.
I tell this to my clients all the time.
Any deal or transaction isn't going to be remembered when you're old and gray. But I guarantee you will wish you had gone to more of your kids' games.
My entire reason for writing this is: What is the point of success if you can't free yourself up enough to spend time with your loved ones?
I go on and on about "Quality of Life" at my seminars and in my coaching sessions. What is important to you in your life? What do you love to do? Who do you want to spend more time with?
If your business isn't allowing you the time to do these things and be with these people, then you are doing something wrong. A business should support you-you shouldn't have to support your business.
Schedule time off. Make it inviolate. Nobody can contact you during your scheduled time off. Treat it as a million-dollar appointment. When you think about it, it truly is. Because no matter how much money you make, you can't take it with you.
But you can have the joy of knowing you spent your time doing what you love to do and being with who you love to be with.
Quality of Life is the true value of success. Don't squander it.
This week, I want you to think about areas of your business that are vacuuming up too much of your time. Maybe you need to hire an assistant. Or delegate a task to an outside vendor. Or eliminate the task completely.
Maybe you're not sure where the waste in your business is. Maybe you don't know what needs cutting and what will bring you more money so that you can have more free time.
If so, call me at (360) 527-8904 or send an email to denise@thelonesgroup.com. I can help. I know how to accurately pinpoint waste - and I can tell you what's destroying your time and what you need to do to bring in more money so you can have more time off.
Want to go even further? How about a full Business Analysis? I'll go deep into your business and tell you exactly what you need to streamline and how to do it step-by-step.