Entrepreneurship is not a field for those who aren't willing to make sacrifices. There will be times in our lives, in this field where you must decide between family and work. It's as simple as that. There are times when family will win and there are times when they won't. That's how things work and you have to decide what the rules are for each decision. I came up with three different things that you must do to find success and to ensure that those who begin this journey with you, will finish it with you.
1. Finding common ground- I don't believe that you wake up one day and decide that you are going to be an entrepreneur. It's a journey and it takes time. With those steps and time to make this decision, there are critical people in your life that you should include in the decision. Your partner or spouse is the number one person. You should sit down and make rules. When you will work late, when you shouldn't miss your children's events and when work will come first and when it will come second. You should also be prepared that this will be a long journey. The more you talk about it and the more prepared you both are, the less there will be to disagree upon once the events actually happen.
2. Keep your word- I think this is important for keeping people by your side until the end. Have you ever had someone who constantly tells you something and never pulls through? It gets old. Eventually you get tired of waiting and tired and being let down so you go find someone who won't let you down anymore. If you say you are going to be somewhere, be there. If you say you are going to do something. Do it. Simple as that.
3. Last and final is make time- there will always be a better option. A chance to make more money. A chance to find everlasting success but what won't always be there, is your family. Watching your children grow, you will never get those moments back. It's hard but there will always be a chance to make more money later. Make time for those that you love and figure out a way to balance both rather than making work the number one priority in your life.
It had been a one-step-forward, two-steps-back day for me. At 6:00 A.M. I tiptoed into my parents’ bedroom. “Psst, Dad, my alarm clock didn’t go off.” It was not until we were halfway to school that I realized my socks were each a different color, and that I had forgotten the homework I had stayed up until midnight to finish. Even though I slipped into the classroom only three minutes late, I was marked tardy by my smiling, but sharp-eyed teacher. You can probably guess that with such a terrific beginning, the rest of the day went downhill fast.
An unbelievable series of setbacks led to the final indignity, which occurred as I was running across the lawn to catch the bus for home. Almost as though there were a plot against me, they turned on the sprinklers.
By the time I staggered off the old yellow school bus, checked the mailbox, and plodded up the driveway, the only thing that kept me on course was the therapeutic thought of an afternoon with no obligations. Not one single thing I had to do. Just my own time—all mine!
As I drooped along nearing the house, I noticed a strange car. Upon shutting the back door and throwing my books toward the kitchen table, I called, “Whose car?”
“It’s mine and Dad’s,” came a six-year-old voice in answer. And who should come shooting around the corner but Aaron, my first-grade, out-of-town cousin. He sprang at me with a flying leap, wrapping himself around my legs in glad greeting.
“Uncle Dick brought Aaron along to help him,” Mom explained. Each time he came on business, Uncle Dick brought a different son, and this was Aaron’s turn. His first time. A big event.
Aaron is a beautiful boy. His blonde hair, blue eyes, and broad smile make me proud. He looked great standing there in little tennis shoes, faded jeans, and a gap-tooth grin that all but shouted, “I know you’re glad I came!” Ordinarily he’d be right. But not today.
So while everyone was caught up in conversation, I took a small year’s supply of cookies and started downstairs. Then I heard it. The big news was that Aaron was to stay with us the whole afternoon. My afternoon! I would be expected to spend my own private, precious time babysitting!
I slammed the bedroom door and turned up the radio extra loud, pretending I didn’t hear Mom’s call. Then I flopped down on the bed to figure out how I could make up a final in Algebra. I would have solved that, and other world problems, too, but the bedroom door was thrown wide. An eager Aaron was suggesting, “Hey, pal, let’s do something.”
“You go right ahead,” I muttered, turning my head away. Aaron pulled on my pant leg. “C’mon, Brad, let’s go for a walk.”
“Oh, joy, a walk!” I thought with a thud. But who could resist that full-face grin? Off went the radio, on went my jacket, away went my afternoon. Aaron grabbed my hand, dragged me up the stairs and out the door.
With explosive excitement Aaron began to show and explain all the mysteries of the world. Holding a dandelion under his pixie chin, he explained, “You know, if you like butter, you’ll get a yellow shadow. Try it, Brad.” And sure enough, I like butter.
Aaron’s next nature lesson concerned a cunningly soft, striped caterpillar discovered by fortunate accident. With profound observation Aaron remarked, “The reason caterpillars have so many legs is cause their moms had lots of legs, too. All babies are like their moms.”
As we built finger bridges for our caterpillar to make its ticklish way, my excitement grew to match Aaron’s. I began to see the world through freshened eyes. I had forgotten how much fun climbing a tree could be, or playing pirates in the leafy branches. The game was barely used before Aaron traded it in on a new entertainment.
“Look at those neat lines, Brad,” Aaron called, as he heaved a fistful of small pebbles into a spring puddle. They made neat ripples, and I watched them ripple and wear out against the shore. I stood wondering how I could have let myself forget all this. How could I have become so grown-up-busy as to forget the black-bordered pastel of butterfly wings, the crisp smell of wild flowers, the snow-nourished spring greenery of my mountains? How could I have passed them by day after day?
I had forgotten how high you can go on Grandma’s swing, or how good the sun feels after months of winter bundling. I had become so mired with mundane problems, I had forgotten to enjoy life. Only 16 years old and already I was so engulfed in monumental anxieties, I had simply forgotten small pleasures.
I picked up a pebble to jar the stillness of the small pool again. Then I noticed that Aaron was kneeling down all curled into a small-boy ball.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I’m being a rock. Can rocks feel, Brad?”
“Well, you’re a rock. How do you feel?” By now I was chuckling.
“I feel hard. C’mon, Brad. You be a rock, too.”
It seemed like forever that I lay curled up in the sun with a slight breeze creeping beneath my jacket. I loved it. I hadn’t taken the time to get that close to my earth for so long.
Aaron, the rock, was first to break our stony silence. He whispered, “Didn’t God make a beautiful world? And all for us. Boy! He must love us rocks.”
“You bet!” I agreed as I draped Aaron, the all-American twerp, around my neck with a swoop of joyful energy. Life was suddenly fresh, new, beautiful!
I was sorry to see Aaron go that evening. Really. What a world of good he had done his doddering old cousin as we had stretched out together on that moist, grassy hill, with eyes for nothing but the cloudless blue sea above. His chubby hand had reached for mine.
“Hey, Brad, let’s always be pals just like we are now. Pals forever.”
Behind my eyes I felt tears forming, childlike tears of joy. I rolled over to squeeze that miniature boy wonder.
“Yeah, pals,” I pledged. “Pals forever.”
I aboslutley loved this story! Just like Brad, I think that there is something that we can learn from those days that are one step forward, two step backs. We can learn that there is still good in the world. We can learn that there even the days may become harder and harder, things will eventually work out. We will be able to figure things out and when those situations become hard, we have to remember why we started this entire journey. I don't believe for one minute that this field- or any field- for that fact is easy.Everything has it's ups and downs and when you push through those downs and the hard ups, you will find the greatest reward at the end. Never give up and never stop chasing what you want. Not for one minute.
