Why Family is My Business Resolution for 2012

Sometimes life has a way of taking you to task.  As the owner of Clerical Advantage, I tend to put in long hours, often working through holidays and weekends.  Even on the occasions when I travel I generally try to keep a somewhat normal work schedule.  That was my intention when I planned my holiday trip to visit my new granddaughter who was born on December 14^th.

It was business as usual the week before Christmas, with the occasional pause to snuggle the baby and a couple of half days to finish up shopping.  Then as Christmas passed and we started toward the New Year, things changed.  My daughter lives in rural Maine and her internet service isn’t the most reliable in the best of cases, but I have the handy, dandy hot spot on my phone, so I wasn’t concerned.

I guess I was a good girl because Santa brought me an iPhone for Christmas. And then it was back to work on Monday.

Except life had other plans.

Maybe it was trying to tell me that it was time for a real vacation.  Or maybe it was just trying to show me that I needed more balance in my life. Whatever it was, by Wednesday of last week every time I seriously tried to work, the internet went down.  Not only that, but the hot spot on my iPhone was less than reliable too.

At first I freaked out. After all, I had things I needed to get done.  But late Friday, in the midst of a frustrating attempt to record a tutorial with the internet going down every 10 minutes it dawned on me.  I was wasting precious time with my daughter and granddaughter worrying about something that was obviously out of my control.  I relaxed and enjoyed sitting quietly with my granddaughter in my arms, knowing that in a few days I’d be flying home and it would be back to business as usual.  I was able to make memories that I’ll cherish forever.

Too often as business owners we get so wrapped up in being an entrepreneur that we don’t even realize what we are losing out on as we put in those long hours.  And while it’s important to work hard, what good is a successful business if you never get the time to enjoy life and your family?  After all, isn’t that part of the reason we wanted to be our own boss?  Didn’t we envision being able to balance our work and family better and not miss out on all of those special moments that we too often miss out on when working for someone else?

So in 2012 I’m making one resolution and it’s not to lose weight or exercise more.  It is a promise to recognize the fact that those precious family moments are just too valuable to pass up.