After spending 3.5 days in Las Vegas attending the No Excuses Summit I was happy to get home to my kiddos and family. (More to come about the conference). While Monday was spent flying and then catching up on sleep and recovering from 3.5 days in Vegas I awoke yesterday to a list of Mommy chores, as later this week brings our next vacation of the year. (You might remember my post about Mexico a few months back ). Believe me, there is a lot of preparation to be done to pack up 2 kids and 2 adults for a 12 day trip!
Back to my story – I got the kids ready for the day, dropped my daughter off at her caregiver’s and took my son on an adventure, a boring chore adventure. We made stops for the usual: banking, visiting a client to pick up a check, picking up new contacts, getting the mail, etc.
While on the road, I told my son I’d take him out to lunch where he could choose the location. I figured it would be McDonald’s or Burger King but instead he chose Who Song and Larry’s – a local Tex-Mex sit down restaurant. I was surprised and quickly agreed. We arrived right about 11:45am and were quickly seated. We ordered our lunch and proceeded to spend the next 45 minutes catching up on what he did for the weekend while I was gone. We laughed and connected as a mom and her 6 year old only could. It was awesome. During a catch up pause (so he could hold and eat his huge burrito) I looked around the room. There I sat in my jeans and tennis shoes casually hanging out with my son, in no rush for time.
As I looked around I saw people laughing and talking – as it should be in a restaurant. I thought nothing of it.
When it was time to leave, the line at the front door for tables was long. What I quickly noticed was the suits and ties and traditional business attire that goes with a more structured work role. The waiting faces looked tense as if they were in a hurry and rushed.
It was another AHA moment for me. It struck me that as an entrepreneur, even though I do make lunch appointments with clients and colleagues or coffee appointments throughout the day, I wasn’t on a 1-hour lunch break. I didn’t have the pressure of a traditional Corporate America role. And in that moment I was thankful.
Don’t get me wrong. I word harder in my own business as an entrepreneur than many do watching the clock working for someone else – but my time is my own and I choose how I spent it and the results are directly proportional. I work hard so I can play hard.
My freedom and flexibility is critical in my life. I want more lunches with my kids, more vacations with my family and to help more people who want to be able to do the same thing in their lives if they so choose.
I’m going to work on kickin’ it up a notch for you, dear readers, who are ready to work hard to play hard.
“Good things come to those who wait, but only those things left by those who hustle.” – Abraham Lincoln
