Wednesday, August 20, 2008

What is Your REASON? What is Your "Why"?

I have a neighbor who works downtown, makes excellent money, but leaves at 5:30 am and gets home every night at 9:00pm. We live in Atlanta and the traffic is always pretty bad. So, I asked him how much of his day he spent on the road. His answer, 55 minutes to an hour and a half. He works 5 days a week, so I added it up. Give or take, he spends 20 days or more IN HIS CAR driving to and from work every year, 10 hours a week or more. Now, he loves his job and chose to live in our subdivision, but for those of you who do this and despise your job, could this be your reason to achieve better things?

My neighbor doesn't have kids either, but I know there are a lot of parents who commute, work a full time job, and juggle kids at the same time. The good news is, there is always a way out. The journey starts with focusing on your reason.

Since 2001, I have worked for myself. I have two little girls who I have had the incredible opportunity of waking up with them, having breakfast, taking them to the park, taking them to school and not having to worry about answering to some hot headed boss or spend 2 hours a day on the road commuting to work. I would not trade my time that I have had with them for ANYTHING in the world. For me, my reason... is TIME.


I was laid off from the telecommunications industry in 2001. At the time I was mad, but I had 6 months severance pay, so instead of finding another job, I got an education in real estate and got involved in the mortgage business, real estate appraisal, and bought and sold a hand full of houses. I thank God for being laid off back then. At the time, I thought it was end of the world, but it was a pivotal point in my life where my thinking changed. I thought I was secure in my job, but when my number came up, I got a pink slip. But, it forced me to focus on MY reason.

Point is, if you start focusing on your reason, you can achieve greatness. Money is just a means to an end. If you want to spend more time with your family, focus on that, focus on doing whatever you have to do to make that happen and I guarantee you it can.

No comments: