Balance

I took Friday night, Saturday and half of today off. Left mid Friday afternoon to Niagara on the Lake with my wife Elizabeth. Felt guilty since it was the SYNNEX national sales conference in Greenville this weekend. I booked the holiday this weekend before the conference was booked so decided to stick to the holiday.

Went to live theatre on Friday and Saturday. Cycled for a few hours Saturday. Bought some fresh fruit. Ran into my HP rep, Kathryn, Friday night at a pub that plays live music.

My boss, Bob Huang, arrived today at 4 and is in town meeting with me on a deal.

People have asked my how I balance my life or if balance is important. Quite honestly, I do not balance well by the view the world has. When I see highly successful people, frequently they are not balanced in the view of the world. Great atheletes and musicians spend too much time practicing. Great writers tend to write too much. Great painters study painting (and these days marketing)and paint too much. So if I wish to become a great business person, I will likely work and study too much and spend most of my time focused on business..

What I do know is everyone needs to find the balance they need to stay sharp and on their game. This is not necessarily what the rest of the world sees as balance. For me, I need to be healthy, so I work out enough to be healthy. I sometimes need to take my mind off business and focus on something else – so I play duplicate bridge, do competitive martial arts, spend time with friends and family, I read (or is that sort of cheating since I usually read business stuff) etc.

Elizabeth and I have a great equilibrium. She knows I am driven but we schedule some time together. It helps that she is high energy so stays up late. It also helps that she has her own career and understands my time constraints. It helps that she is flexible.

I do have friends and family(4 grown children, 3 brothers, both parents). Friends and family know I am driven and there is no obligation. We get together because we choose to.

What I see as most important is knowing values and from these come goals. They allow me to make decisions on how I will spend my time. Sometimes the best use of my time is to NOT do business. It gives me more energy when I return to business.

One thing I do know is guilt over balance does not help anything. I know I choose what I do so try to do it with gusto and without guilt.

So was this weekend considered balance? Or just sharpening the saw so I can get back to business?