Cats' In The Cradle

 

                                 And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
                     Little boy blue and the man on the moon
                     When you comin' home dad?
                     I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
                     You know we'll have a good time then  chorus
                                                                               The Artist: Harry Chapin

     Anyone remember the song? For those who don't, it's about a dad who doesn't make the time to be in his child's life. Always making promises, whether to play catch, go to a game, or just watch TV together, dad just doesn't take that time. Meanwhile the child grows up and the dad grows old. Now he wants time with his son, but the son has the same reaction dad did all those years, and the cycle repeats. He makes promises

unkempt.

 And he was talkin' 'fore I knew it, and as he grew
He'd say "I'm gonna be like you dad
You know I'm gonna be like you"
  Last three lines of first stanza 
 
    We do the same in and with our families, our business, our careers. We forget the small things. Like the saying , "We eat to live, not live to eat." Our careers or business feed our families, but they should not run your life. Family comes first, then the rest should and will fall into place.

  I've seen all too many times a career change, or a business start-up fail, and come home to a house with no one there. I get a call only to hear, "Where did I go wrong?"

  Our priorities MUST be in place. For instance mine are as such: God, family, friends, career, in that order.

  On the other hand, I deal with clients whose businesses are blossoming. They call with the regret our meeting is postponed to a later date, they forgot a sons little league game, a daughters dance recital, and change the date and all is well. I understand that family comes first, the meeting we had reset was not life threatening and can wait.

  True success is when your priorities are in place, you have confidence in yourself, family, employees, etc. Yes, we should take our careers seriously, BUT we must take family and life more so.

  I never heard anyone say late in life or near its end, "I wish I'd spent more time at work, or I hope that self portrait fits in my coffin, I want it with me!" No, I hear, "I wish I spent more time with my spouse, my kids, my family, and friends."

Sphere-Logic Business Thinking takes the whole of life and starts with what matters most in life. Living life to the full with what we're given.