a couple of years ago I met a guy at a seminar who owned a company that was restructuring hospitals.
You know that kind of guy you picture in your mind when someone says: he has a stick up his ass?

Well, that was him.

At the seminar, this whole relaxation & stress theme was also part of the gig. And I had a conversation with him, here’s his statement, verbatim: “I’m not a workaholic, I just carry a lot of responsibility for my employees.” (I had to resist the urge to grin stupidly when he said that).

Now, I very much admired him for what he had achieved in life and that he built a multi-million-Euro business. But at the same time, I couldn’t help but think: ‘Gee, I don’t want to have that kind of life!’

This summer I saw him again, and he was walking around with the calmness of a buddha, smile on his face. During our short conversation, he made me laugh three times because of funny little jokes he told. His whole attire completely changed. It was like you’d taken out a piece of butter from the freezer and let it melt in the sun. And I thought to myself: ‘Gee, this guy really figured something out now.’

The point I want to make here is: It’s great to see that you can turn your life around if you make the decision. This guy was as much a workaholic as I can imagine. But in the course of a couple of years, he totally loosened up, and from what I heard out of the conversation his business is going stronger than ever before.

I couldn’t agree more with your post.

This is one of the reasons I’ve worked from the home for the last twenty years. Complete flexibility to live the lifestyle I want, rather than waiting til’ some future time to enjoy happiness.

But like everyone else, I still need to be reminded. Which is why your post is well timed. Entrepreneurial work is hectic, stressful and downright panic-ridden sometimes (at it’s worst).

Just last week I was telling my wife that I can’t wait to get to the point where I can work part of the time and spend the rest of the time playing with my kids and building our wacky art gardens (which are starting to get some serious attention).

She looked at me with a twinkle in her eye and said…”Dan, that’s what you do NOW”.

Oh yeah…

Story about the founder of Edie Bauer. May have been old Edie himself.

Reporter, back in the 1960’s, was asking him about plans to expand.

He said “Yup, we’ll be testing a new item in our next catalog.”

Reporter says, “No, I mean get some raise some capital, open some outlets, go international, become the Sears Roebuck of the clothing catalog business.”

“Son,” wise old Edie replies, “I eat three square meals a day. I can’t eat four.”

it’s great being around my 5yr old daughter at home, working here, her whole life, vs suit/tie/commute/corporate ball n chain bs.

It’s challenging though, since there’s so much money to be made using the copywriting techniques, so many new niches to enter and make money it, it’s hard to resist getting the latest site/dvd/course/seminar/whatever out on the market …. empire building is fun..

but like they say, nobody got to the end of their life and regretted not working more, they all say the same thing, “I wish I’d spent more time w/my family” .. so building mini-vacations into life is a great reward…

the last 3-4 years, I always take my family away to a nice hotel for frequent weekend getaways, plus take everyone out for lunch at least once a week, for quality time away from writing copy/ creating sites..that’s a fun way to have a mini-vacation, just go somewhere local to a great hotel for a night or two…

taking time to smell the roses, it’s balancing, and refreshes the spirit and the mind…

-ken

It’s really easy to get caught up in working all the time and not take the time to relax.

“Just remember why you’re working so hard. It’s for a better life. The money you’re making shouldn’t be a prison, but a conduit for more fun, more travel, more adventures.”

That’s a perfect statement right now. The problem I’m having now is that I haven’t made any real money, so I have none to enjoy, so I have to work harder! haha. But it’s true what you said, as that is the real reason we actually work so hard.

And it’s important to keep that in mind!