While surfing, I found: Staying Sane as a Parent and Business Owner. Hmmm, anyone who's figured this one out is a genius in my book.
It was written by Peter Vogopoulos, the mostly silent partner of Firepole Marketing. I first came across Firepole Marketing when Danny Iny, the not so silent partner, sent me a link to his book "Engagement from Scratch", a compilation of the real-life stories of 30 successful marketers on how to build a loyal and engaged audience. From that moment, I was pretty much hooked on FM.
In this post, Peter shares how his life -- and priorities -- as a business owner changed after he and his wife had a baby. He had to give some stuff up, take a supporting role instead of a starring one, and find new ways to work. He was juggling a lot of balls and trying really, really hard not to drop the glass ones. These are the ones that are the most precious, the ones that when all is said and done, are the only ones that really matter.
I love this. How many times do we give the same level of importance to everything that's on our priority list and then end up feeling like crap because we missed our kid's baseball game so we could meet a deadline?
This post resonated with me in many ways. Last year, I was laid off. I took that as the proverbial kick in the pants I needed to start Studio 4 PR, the business I'd been dreaming of for years. I was thrilled that I'd be working from home. My husband and I have a five year old who was starting kindergarten in the fall and this meant I could volunteer in his class and make sure he got on and off the bus safely.
I also had visions that I would be a cross between the Wonder Women of Productivity and Macguyver, accomplishing far more between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. than I ever had in my previous 40-hour life and, with two candy bars, a piece of string and a rubberband, also able to whip up a Halloween costume, get dinner on the table, and clean the house. So, it was a little disheartening to have my husband come home from work, see the house a wreck and the laundry not done and ask "what did you do all day?
A reminder hanging over my desk |
Heck, I want to show him the money, too, but I also want to be like Peter and make sure I don't drop any of the glass balls.
What about you?