Learn this fundamental equation about life. Your life can be broadly classified into three areas Family
- Career
- Money
The beautiful interplay of these three facets is unceasing and perpetual. Needless to say, different aspects require different focus at different times. You may, for example, start early in life with a focus on a career where you learn new skills and become a subject matter expert. Over time you may shift your focus towards building financial security. At this point, you may want to monetize your skill sets and negotiate for better money.
Or there may also be the situation that you had just got married or had a baby and prefer to dedicate the next few years primarily to family while continuing to juggle with money and career to make you the most fantastic husband or father. This is not to say that one is not more important than the other. It is more of to help you prioritize these balls while juggling.
Remember, while juggling these balls, there can be additional complexities. These three balls change their form. At different points, different rubber balls may turn into glass balls. Your cleverness is to recognize the glass balls and drop the rubber balls if you need to. A classic example would be a situation where marriage is on the rocks because of your hectic travel (career focus), and you are on the brink of separation. Or you are fast depleting your financial reserves while you continue to stick to a career with a firm that gave you fancy titles but just has been paying you 50% of what the market can pay you for a similar job.
While they may broadly be connected and seem interchangeable – they are not. E.g., a promising career broadly would mean good money – not necessarily. Good money would mean good family life – but not necessarily – you may be chasing money while all that your daughter wants is to spend that one hour with you in the evening.
While they may broadly be connected and seem interchangeable – they are not. E.g., a promising career broadly would mean good money – not necessarily. Good money would mean good family life – but not necessarily – you may be chasing money while all that your daughter wants is to spend that one hour with you in the evening.
How do you action this?
Plan: Sit down and think hard. What is the most crucial thing in your life now? What is the goal (measurable timeline) on that front to say that you have achieved that? What is the second priority, and what is the third? At which point would you want to reprioritize one for the other – money for career or family and vice-versa? You must have a comprehensive plan.
Over time, monitor if you are on the right path. If at any time you feel disgruntled – revisit the priorities – are you focusing on the right areas?– Are you achieving results on the order of priority? If not, reprioritize.
– If you are already doing the right thing, be happy – you are on the right path.
– If you are already doing the right thing, be happy – you are on the right path.