What is the first thing you do when approached with an objective at work? Typically, you submit a plan on how best to approach the situation. When I was faced with the desire to balance the three most important things in my life: my family, a successful career and community commitments, I decided to create something I call a “life plan.”
A “life plan” is your vision and your future. It’s a way to thrive in all three aspects of your life while not sacrificing one for the other. This evolving plan should not be developed on your own as any successful task requires team work. Therefore, you will need to include your family and, most importantly, your spouse.
My wife and I established my first goal as a thriving career along with balancing time for my family. Through time management, we were able to set guidelines for every day of the week. This way my time was spent efficiently, and I was able to attend events for my daughters while instilling in them good values and work ethics.
Business goals were next in my “life plan.” I realized I needed my wife and daughters to support my goals and understand my desire to reach the next level of achievement to become successful in my career. Consequently, no goal was set without considering the impact it would have on the people around me.
Community activities were decided after realizing how they would affect my family and business commitments. The decision was whether to donate time or money, and when time wasn’t available, I contributed money. Now that my family is grown, I can contribute my time.
Remember this: life doesn’t come with instructions. So make your own life plan with the ones you love, and don’t be afraid to make adjustments for life changing events.
