Reading Om Malik’s post on the Importance of Living Life really made me sit up and reflect on my life so far. I have been told countless times by my parents to stop for a while and enjoy life a little more. My mother’s favorite phrase is “Take time out to smell the roses”. When she used to tell me that 2 – 3 years ago, I could not comprehend what it meant. With time I am beginning to see the wisdom in the phrase. Earlier this week I heard an interview by Andrew Warner on Mixergy with Maria Sipka where the same subject was brought up. It is like life is trying to tell me something these days.
Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do on a daily basis! Working with start-ups from all around the globe in different capacities excites me, and makes me really look forward to each new day. However, there is a severe imbalance in the time that is spent working as compared to time spent doing other stuff. The deal is that, at my age I think there will always be an imbalance as far as work and other activities are concerned. It is all about creating and finding that perfect level of equilibrium where one side is not completely neglected at the cost of the other.
Finding that balance is, I believe, what life is all about. I do believe emphasis is needed on finding that balance earlier rather than later. As we enter an age of hyper competition and aggressiveness, we need to clarify and prioritize our values, beliefs and ambitions. These need to be aligned with what we truly want to achieve in life. As the famous saying goes, you don’t want to put your ladder against the wrong wall, only to find that out when you reach the top…….
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Balance. That’s what I always promised myself when I decided I wanted to be an entrepreneur. However, it wasn’t until I took a month of to go to Brazil that I was able to make sense of it all. Seeing people living so freely and simply really made an impact on me and has really changed the way that I work. There, they always took time to cheer for the sunset. That has become my equivalent of smelling the roses.
Great post…as usual.
Thank you for the compliment Shannon.
Balance is definitely a critical component that takes considerable effort to maintain. Your trip to Brazil sounds amazing, something everyone should experience for themselves.
I wrote a post on the subject quite a long time ago “5 Steps to a Balanced Life“. You may enjoy reading that post as well.