Make no mistake ---- It's extremely difficult to maintain business success if you don't maintain personal family success.
You don't have to be trapped by success. Success is a good thing but part of being successful is creating balance in your life. There are steps you can take to create the kind of balance that will not only improve your personal life expectations but they will enhance your business platform for success.
The Very First Thing Sit down with your family and have an open honest discussion. Ask for their input, their observations and their opinions. Don't get defensive and don't act like a martyr. Listen, listen and listen some more. Refocus some of that entrepreneurial energy on creating family success.
Begin by setting personal goals. Start small, a family outing, a trip to Disney World, and a commitment to a reduction in travel or anything else that came up during your family meeting.
The Power of Goal Setting There is power in setting goals and this applies not only to business goals but to personal goals as well. Consider the following key principles to improve the balance in your life:
- Establish a goal that provides direction or a roadmap for your life on where you want to go.
- Create a goal that establishes your personal authority over your life
- Create a goal that is exciting and motivating for the whole family
- Create a goal that helps reduce stress and provides personal relaxation
- Create goals that give you and individual family members a sense of pride
While it may be macho to live without direction in the short-term, in the long-term we all need a purpose and direction. Goals give us a sense of direction and purpose to life.
It may be easier to allow our work, our boss, our friends and even our enemies set our direction in life. However, the reality of the situation is that if we don't set personal goals then we will find it much too easy to allow others to dictate the path we take. This is true even if you are the President or the CEO of your company. Simply put, it doesn't matter, without personal goals you won't have any chance to take control over your destiny. Balance and happiness in our personal lives comes from the fulfillment of our personal goals and the excitement of following our own path and not someone else's.
Personal goals not only provide us a direction but they provide motivation, encouragement and a sense of urgency for accomplishment. By setting goals not only do the goals define our destination but they help create a journey for us that acts as a foundation for our happiness. Our goals must be congruent with our unique perspective on life.
Stress Relievers Goals save time, provide balance but they also reduce stress. Using your goals to focus your life and choices makes it easier to make those choices. Goals give you a sense of personal accomplishment that can be measured, not by numbers and graphs like you are used to, but measurements of smiles, chuckles, hugs, laughter and contentment. There is nothing more powerful than a smile from your little girl, a hug from your son or a thankful kiss from your soul mate.
Now go out there and put a priority on setting your personal goals. You will thank me for bringing it to your attention and your family will love you even more than they do now for doing it.
Rick Johnson, expert speaker, wholesale distribution's "Leadership Strategist", founder of CEO Strategist, LLC a firm that helps clients create and maintain competitive advantage. Need a speaker for your next event, E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com www.ceostrategist.com 
