Tuesday, July 12, 2011

What means more to you? Your career or your life?

Recently I had lunch with a friend who is very successful. He is in a senior leadership role with a fortune 500 company. We were talking about retirement, IF and when we will ever be able to get there! We talked about how as we get older, our desires change. Desires around our careers, our life, how much money we need to make and how we spend our time. Could we make more money, probably, but at what cost? Is it really worth what we would have to give up? We all continually need to evaluate if we are "winning". Winning to me right now is more about helping my clients be successful and having the balance in my life to be there for my family and friends. At the end of the day, nobody ever says they wished they worked more, they say they wished they spent more time with loved ones. Many do not figure this out until it's too late. They work 70 hours a week right up until retirement, then they have nobody to share their free time with. It's the "Cat's and the Cradle" scenario of life. Are you making sacrifices right now? If so, are they the right ones? Ones you won't regret? Think about what's most important in life and make sure your time is allocated appropriately.