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Family Values: Are You Sacrificing Your Family for Your Career?

What is the worst feeling in the world can a man or woman can experience? It is to realize that the most important part of your life, your family, gets pushed down on your list of priorities. This often results to some family relationships getting ripped at the seams - without your knowledge!

I will never forget the night this very same realization happened to me some years ago. I was spending days, even weeks, on the road working hard to close bigger and bigger accounts for my sales position. One night, I received a call from my wife reminding me to be home early the next day to attend my daughter's play at her school.

But before I talked with my wife, a client called and wanted to meet me the next day regarding a huge deal that I had been working on for months.

I couldn't pass it up. If I close the sale, it meant an extra thousand dollars every month but I felt that my family was really too important to pass up also. The worst part is, I lied to my wife and daughter on the phone when I said that I would be at the school the next day. I already knew that my work was going to come first by signing up the big account, but I didn't have the guts to tell them over the phone. I was determined to close the deal, make a lot of money, miss my daughter's big day and make up an excuse of my absence.

That night was the lowest point of my life even though I was already doing well and considered pretty successful at the time. I realized that I was putting aside what matters most to me, my family. And they were losing faith in me, not expecting more from me, not caring, breaking away...

When I woke up the next morning, I realized that no amount of money can replace love and family. I phoned my business contact, explained that my family needed me and informed him that I would understand if he wants to take his business elsewhere with someone more reliable.

That was the day I made the right decision to put my work aside, to risk losing the big account and be there for my family. Needless to say, the business man respected what I said and rescheduled the meeting. After a week, I successfully signed the deal. The moral of the story is - put your family first, work hard in between, and success in all areas of your life will follow.

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