Today’s video has a guest host to help me describe an example of why and how to work compromise into your work.
I find it ironic sometimes that one of the benefits of being self-employed is setting your own rules and having a flexible schedule, yet I can still get really rigid about my office hours. Josh helped me loosen up today, and I think we are both going to have an enjoyable day because of it.
View it directly on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCiHMmCUxNU
How do you figure out the work/family/flexibility equation? I would love to hear.
[…] is a part of life. There’s no way to separate the two. Work is something we choose to spend a good chunk of our time doing. Maybe it’s something we […]
This is such a great video, Pam. I have a nearly two-year-old son and I’ve really started making different choices in the last two years since he was born when it comes to business. I am far more likely to be as efficient as possible so that I can get home – I definitely don’t want to be stuck at the office if it means I won’t get to see him. It also led me to start reading folks like yourself who are so cognizant of making that work-life balance and who help folks like myself to tip the pendulum back in the “life” direction. Thank you !
Pam what a lovely video. Josh is fab. It is great to see you with your family.
This is so wonderful! I LOVE IT! Indeed, we get to schedule our own days as entrepreneurs, but we’re still susceptible to the trap of this “always balanced” lifestyle myth. It is truly about compromise, and about seeking harmony in all aspects of our lives, so that we can enjoy the rewards of choosing self-employment. Thanks so much for the reminder (and for the giggles)!
I’ve spent over two decades in the military, with years spent in the field and deployed overseas, and one of my biggest complaints in an otherwise very meaningful career has continued to be the awful balance between work and life. Interestingly, I’ve also discovered that the leaders who set the poorest examples usually have some of the worst leadership skills (micromanagers, confuse “being there day and night” with actually being productive, etc.). It is EXACTLY this sort of thing that is driving me to try to find my own path (detailed on my blog) when I transition from the military. Thanks for the reminder and inspiration!
This is a key question for me. I am in the lag time between starting to create a new business and being able to leave the soul destroying day job. I do, as you mention above, the most important things first. I get up at 4.00am to meditate, exercise and do Taiji before going to the day job. Then in the evening I eat, and work on the business. I monitor it all by how tired I am and adjust sleep accordingly. t can be frustrating when I have to leave out valuable thins but still have to go to work! But with my well being as a priority, and continuing to take daily action, I think this is best and flexible balance at the moment.
Best wishes,
Richard
It’s all about compromise. But, we need to put a cap on how much we compromise our personal/family life, since we can never get those years back.
It sounds like, Pam, you’ve found that balance! 🙂
Okay, seriously, could Josh be any more adorable (and funny)??? What a great video and what a great example of the need to have some flexibility in our lives and businesses.
Cute video Pam!
I once heard an executive talk at my company and when the work/life balance question came up she answered in a way I had never heard before (normally you get wishy-washy answers about how you need to balance and find time for your family as a busy executive) but this executive was different.
She said that you have to decide what is more important for you- your family or your career and then prioritize accordingly. I am sure it is tough to do, but she was basically saying she puts her job before her family. While a bit harsh it does allow you to make decisions much easier.
What do you think of this mentality?
-Aaron
Personally I think every person’s life journey is different. I can’t judge. Where I have a problem is with the executive who usurps other people’s right to make their own decisions and also how to execute those decisions. Does she refuse to promote people who “too many” kids? If you are her subordinate, does “putting career first” have to mean putting in a lot of face time?
So appreciate this–especially when I’m feeling totally in balance. This. Minute. Great reminder. Thanks for sharing Pam. XOXOX – Kathy
LOL at Josh doing the “blah, blah, blah.” This is beyond sweet, Pam, and you and Josh both look SO happy. Thanks for this! You and Josh both brightened my day. xoxo, Laurie
Hi, nice post. Can you please do a video of how to be productive at work and follow time tables, be motivated. This is for a work at home online business!
Very cool you have the opportunity to do this. Glad you decided to listen 🙂
Love this, Pam! Josh is hilarious, you should have him guest more often.
I recently came to the decision that my business may grow more slowly or not at all for while, but I would not compromise on my daughters’ experience. So I stopped rushing them in the morning, and when the school bus comes, I am done for the day.
To appease my inner feminist, I also vowed that when I’m an old lady, I’m going to raise hell with elected officials — or even maybe *become* an elected official — and change how we view “full time” work. ‘Cause it doesn’t have to be how the industrial revolution set us up, it’s madness.
I feel grateful I have the freedom and flexibility to work part-time, and everyone should have that same freedom. One day.
Sooo true, Julica! And Pam!
My daughter is a huge motivation for me to have a successful business but I have to remember that when I say yes to strict deadlines and new projects, I am inadvertently saying no to some of the time I spend with my daughter. Owning my own business was always about freedom to do what I want with my time, it was not about prestige or huge sums of money. Each day I have to remember that if I spent a good portion of the day with my husband and daughter then it was a successful day, regardless of what I accomplished in my business (which is usually a lot but of course us entrepreneurs can never seem to believe that we get enough done in a day). That’s how I try to keep my priorities straight.
Pam, judging by the amount of giggling you guys were doing in the video, I am sure you had a really fun day with Josh at the office. Totally worth not getting as much done for today. 🙂
I think kids are great at keeping us anchored in what is most important in life. Sometimes we need those little reminders to stop us getting off track and in the right mindset. Loved seeing you both having fun together on this video.
Great compromise! I bet you will both learn a lot (and have some frustrations AND fun) today…
I love this, Pam! What a great role model (for your kids and for all of us) for redefining what work “is.” Work is setting priorities, getting results, and serving important life purposes. Work is not putting in time for the sake of time, “making my boss look good,” and so on – all those bad habits that we may have been rewarded for, but that may actually sabotage our entrepreneurial efforts.
Thanks Barbara!
Even though I know this, I catch myself doing some things from habit — as I was saying “No, you can’t come to work with me” twenty times this morning, I suddenly thought “Why?”
Question authority, especially your own. 🙂