Don't Forget to Have Fun!
Are you working hard right now, busting your butt and still feeling like you’re not getting anything finished - you just get tired and go home?
That’s certainly the case at la Casa del Nakamoto-Hughes. Lots of balls in the air, deadlines coming up, etc. Given that, I should have felt guilty last weekend when my husband and I ran off to Vegas for a couple of days. But you know what? I didn’t!
One of the common characteristics I’ve noticed with a lot of business owners and entrepreneurs (especially the successful ones!) is an amazing work ethic. They’re ready, able and willing to put in the long hours that starting, nurturing and growing a business requires. Some folks I know seem to be always working - a couple I know told me recently that they don’t know how to relax any more.
That conversation stuck with me for awhile. It was a little bit sad, actually. If you’re always planning for the future - the next meeting, the next year’s campaign, your meeting tomorrow … what happens to today and all the future todays? I realize that we can’t live perpetually in the moment, but surely there’s time to hang out there for a least a little while?
In our household, we try to aim for a balance. It doesn’t always work that way. My husband works for the Nevada Legislature, which will be meeting for its biennial session next year. His department is already racking up the overtime getting ready, and once Session begins they can expect 12-14 hour work days, 6-7 days per week. For myself, folks are also looking around and taking stock of their own situations right now, too. We’re fielding lots of calls about entity formation, amending a structure in place, getting a trust or estate plan updated (or created) etc., and expect that will continue until January.
While we could both hunker down and work until we fall asleep, we made a conscious decision years ago to not forget to celebrate each other. Making time for each other, and doing things together - those are important elements of our partnership.
Which is how I came to find myself last weekend in Las Vegas at a gun range, learning how to fire a weapon for the very first time, and making a souvenir t-shirt. The trade-off was a trip to the Outlet Mall afterwards, so it wasn’t all one-sided. We stayed out all night, slept in late, ate fantastic food, had adventures and have a bunch of great memories to replay when things get tough. Were we a bit behind the 8-ball after the weekend was through? Yes, no question about it. But we were also in a good state of mind to tackle the challenges, too.
I don’t know what you all do for fun, but I would encourage you to try and make sure you have some, whenever possible!
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The last few days I've been thinking about this, and as often happens someone else is on the same "wavelength!"
One of the reasons I've gone a couple of days without making a post is because it's been unseasonably warm here, about 80 degrees. So I cut the chains tying me to my computer and we took some time for ourselves. Sat in the hot tub in the middle of the day, took a nap, took the dog for a long walk on the beach. Shut down my constantly whirling brain for the majority of the last couple of days.
Am I a little more behind in all that I have to do? Yes, but I'm also feeling less frazzled and more in balance with life again. After all, what am I working so hard for if not ultimately to be able to enjoy life more. But on a day-to-day basis I'm defeating that purpose by not taking time every day to do things that I enjoy. Putting off until tomorrow...we only truly have today, so there needs to be a balance between working towards a goal and enjoying the fleeting moments that we know for certain we have in this life.
Just 6 months ago we lost our 12 year old dog, a beautiful Border Collie that absolutely craved human interaction. She could have cared less about the other dogs at the beach, she was interested in saying hello to their owners! As I would sit typing on my keyboard she would come over and start using her nose to push my arm off of the keyboard. "Hey, give me some attention!" she'd be saying. And all too often I would scold her and tell her I was busy and to lie down. Some days she'd comply, others she would literally push her way up onto my lap, all 50 pounds of her, in about 2 seconds. There was no ignoring her then! I would laugh and give her some attention and then tell her she had to get down.
She fell ill while we where on a trip back east, 3,000 miles away and although we managed to nurse her back from the edge we only got another 2 months with her. And I regret every moment she asked for my attention and I was too "busy" to give it to her.
And yet even with that experience so fresh in my mind I still find it difficult to find the right balance in life. I still find myself putting off until tomorrow. But I'm working on it...you should, too.
Mary
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I can easily argue for 7-days of work, or for R&R. Maybe the key is dumping the activities that are not a priority. They are fluff. Expendable fluff.
I really have stayed away from this thread because I don’t necessarily agree. But it’s hard for me to keep my opinion to myself, so here goes:
If you are doing what you love to do, then it’s not work. My husband, in fact, got into this very discussion with Rick V, a new friend after the October Tax Strategy Camp. Rick’s contention is that you need to find a way to love what you do. Richard’s contention is that you should take what you love and find a way to make money. Either way, the answer is that you do not need an escape if you’re doing what you love. More so if you’re doing it as a family.
Now, does that mean, nose to the grindstone every minute of the day? No. In fact, that’s working IN the business, not ON the business. Instead, though, how about taking that “free” time and finding a way to create and dream what your life and business could be? What would you do if you had time, energy and resources to make a real difference in your life and the lives of others? Now that is the ultimate free time. But the fact is, you’re still working. The different is that you’re working ON the business and its future.
Or how about taking that free time and attend a seminar to learn together. I keep thinking of Rob and his son Tony on this one. They are about to be certified firewalk instructors. How cool is that! Now that’s not “work” per se, but in the end they will likely create a business that makes a huge difference in the lives of others. And knowing Rob like I do, he’ll also make some money at it.
I think the whole idea of the need to escape from business comes from the perspective of an employee. And boy oh boy, I can understand that need to escape. You have someone you often don’t like telling you what to do and you better do it, or find somewhere else to work. (OK, maybe not all jobs are like that - just seems like the ones I had were!)
So my idea is that the thought that we need to escape often comes from the WAY we work, not the TIME we work.
I remember being in a seminar years ago with Dan Sullivan (Strategic Coach) and hearing one man complain on and on about having to work all the time. Dan knew the guy and challenged him. He said, “Jack, I’ve seen you at the office. You’re playing games most of the time on the computer. You and I work the same amount. The difference is that I take my time off outside the office. You take it off inside the office.”
That is in line with Luckystar’s comment, I think. I find myself mindlessly surfing the Internet during “work” time, actually a lot. That could easily translate to hours a week.
More than anything, though, I find that there are hours I just waste in my “off” time. Instead of watching TV, I could go sit on the deck with Richard and talk. We could go to Ocean Beach and sit on the sea wall and watch the ocean at night. We could go listen to music at the local coffee house.
We all have the same amount of time. What do we do with it? And, how effective are we? For me, that’s my biggest challenge.
I was 100% in the opposite frame of mind when I read Megan’s post. I’d already had the conversation with myself that morning. The worker bee assertion, and I think we can all agree on this, is that DOers accomplish more than TALKers. So DOing more leads to ACCOMPLISHing more (assuming we’re working efficiently).
Still, for sane and well-rounded people, the wisdom of Megan’s message is clear.
To me, it comes down to aligning actions with priorities.
Assuming our goals and priorities determine our actions, the key seems to be keeping our actions aligned with them. (That’s what Stuart Lichtman is good for— keeping our priorities in the forefront of our minds, so that we are continually taking focused action.)
All that being said, it’s probably good to recognize that we are in a new age with new technology. Our like-minded friends may be inside the computer, rather than in our town. Our creative inspiration may come from surfing online for new ideas.
Megan,
I think I will host a skeet shoot in your honor this weekend at my ranch!
The points that you made were not lost on me, but I kept getting hung up on how jealous I was that you went to a gun range. (without me!)
I haven’t shot a firearm in a very long time - a rattlesnake with a 410 if memory serves me correctly. Its something I love doing - so feel free to hop on over to central Texas this weekend
I’ll provide the clays, bring your own gun and ammo.
Mandy