by Corey Goolsby

If you are like most of us who have been in the workforce for at least a few years, you’ve probably heard some executive, senior manager or HR staff member expound on their thoughts regarding work/life balance. When I think back on the innumerable discussions of that sort that I have been a part of I tend to recall the majority of these people not having what I consider a desirable balance themselves. Many of them, especially the executives, work way too much at a severe cost to their roles as parents, spouses, etc. In effect they have become better than average corporate executives, but worse than average parents and spouses. Some of them were probably well below average in those categories. In that sense their lives were far from balanced!

However, not all successful executives that I recall meeting failed miserably in the area of balance. Those that at least seemed to be successful at balancing work and family life acknowledged the challenges of doing so and often went as far as saying that it really doesn’t exist. I recount a couple focusing more on prioritization rather than balancing their family and work lives. Prioritizing forces us to make decisions. We must determine what comes first in our lives. Is it our spouse and/or children or perhaps that big promotion and pay raise? Is it more important to take your family out to dinner or spend the evening entertaining customers? The choices can sometimes be difficult, but not making a choice is not really an option because if you decide not to think through these decisions then they will likely be made for you. The entity that will win will likely be the one that complains the loudest. Since complaining generally comes after there is already a problem, you’ll already be behind in meeting your commitments thus risking your relationship with both your professional and home lives. So as in most things, it pays to be proactive.

Now as I reflect and recount my decisions that got me to where I am today I question myself as perhaps you should, “Did I prioritize the right people and things as it relates to work and family life? Where would I be had I made different decisions?” Ultimately, you can’t change your past, but you can use it to shape your future. So, if you haven’t made what you feel to be the right decisions about what we’ll now call work/life prioritization, then now is a good time to change that. Also, if you haven’t made a decision on what you will prioritize then there is no better day than today. Do it for yourself and your friends and family. When you get it right you can be one of those executives that expound your wisdom on the matter, but you’ll also be a successful example for how it’s done.