We would all love to be seen as the most important or even vital part of our company, office and work crew, yet each and every one of us is replaceable.
Yes, even you. You may consider yourself to be the glue that keeps it all together or the wheel that keeps everything flowing, but you are not. You may be valuable and hard to replace, but you are replaceable!
Life needs balance, and that applies to everything, including work, play, rest, family, friends, colleagues, your boss, clients and everyone you meet.
When we enter the working world as young and energetic adults, we learn that the more we work the better our income is, but as you age this takes its toll.
You may get married and have kids, which implies that you need more money as your monthly expenses grow. Thus, we tend to work even more and sometimes people will even get a second job. At times, our circumstances do not give us many options and we are forced to do it.
So many of us get sucked into our work that we stop taking leave; we work weekends and sometimes through the night, refusing to miss work even when we get sick. We become so involved and intertwined with our work that our personal lives end up in ruins.
What are you offering up or sacrificing for your career? How can you know for sure that you are sacrificing your family for your career? Well, look at these tell-tale signs and decide for yourself!
1. Family meals, activities and quality time
Do you make time to go to your children’s activities, or do you constantly miss them due to work? There are times when you have a deadline and work must be completed, but this must not become a consistent in your life.
Do you miss dinner more than once a week? If so, you may want to sit down and reschedule some of your work. Quality should not be sacrificed for a couple of bucks more because soon you may start to regret it.
2. Health issues
Are you eating correctly and getting enough sleep and exercise in, or do you simply not have time even for cooking? Are you grabbing fast-food more often, having microwave dinners or simply skipping meals?
You do have choices in life and keeping a good balance is important for a long prosperous life. Is your career stealing your health? If the answer is yes, you should consider taking better care of yourself.
3. Is your time your own?
Stop putting your career before your family. Make yourself a schedule, include your family and friends and keep to it to prevent your career from taking away precious years of your life. Here is how to make time for every aspect of your life.
Exercise
Even though you feel exhausted at the end of each day, try to make some time for some form of exercise. Go swimming or hiking with family and friends on the weekend, or take a brisk walk around the neighborhood.
Exercise will not only keep you healthy, but is proven to reduce stress and revitalize the body and mind.
Family and friends
Be sure to include a BBQ, picnic or dinner with family and friends in your monthly schedule. Take some time off to see your kids perform in sports, a school play or other activities they enjoy.
Attend as many breakfasts and dinners as you can. Spending quality time with your family is important!
Passions
What is your passion in life? Are you in a fulfilling career, or are you only there to make ends meet? Many people believe that to be successful, you have to give up on your dreams and passions in life, but this is not true.
Share your passions and dreams with your family and you may find other methods, as well as time to get to these.
Relaxation
Working all day, long hours and even on weekends can drain our minds and bodies. Make time to unwind, go for a spa treatment, camping, take long soothing baths and include your spouse.
You will have less stress, sleep better and, at the same time, build your relationship.
4. Insecurities
Every relationship throughout your life has an impact on your current and future family life. You may be holding back your affection due to difficult relationships in your past and burying yourself in your work.
Showing your softer side or allowing love into your life does not make you weak; it aids in healing and will give you great pleasure moving forward.
Connecting on an emotional level with your partner and children is needed to build a strong family. If the need arises, seek professional assistance to move forward and strengthen your family bonds; do not hide yourself in your career.
5. Priorities
At times, we all get overwhelmed by life and our priorities can get messed up. Providing for a family is a main priority, but could also end up consuming your family if you do not set goals and prioritize correctly.
There is a place and time for everything in our lives: family, career, friends, hobbies and more even though time is precious. A strong relationship with your family must surpass all other priorities as they are the ones who will be by your side until the end—not your friends, boss or co-workers.
Make time and include your spouse and children in your daily routine, not just at breakfast or dinner; share your and their activities.
6. Approval
We all grow up needing approval. First the approval of our parents, then our first boss, our partner, our children and even our friends, collogues and other family members.
The world can be a cruel place, and needing approval can become a daunting task if we allow it to control our thoughts, actions and emotions.
Step back and look at your life. Think of what is best for your family and focus on that. Your family’s happiness, love and approval come before any other as this is the way it ought to be.
7. The rift
What is your main reason for climbing the ladder of success? It could be for your family, for status, prestige, money, possessions or many other reasons.
Before you realize it, though, you have fallen into a trap and have made a rift. The more you push and the harder you work, the bigger this rift becomes; before long, your relationships go cold, your children have grown into young adults and you have grown old with nothing left but your work.
How long before you must retire? What is left for you when you do as life has passed you by?
Your family and their interests are your first priority. Sit back and evaluate your life and make a change now that you will not regret as you grow old. Life should not revolve around your career, but it should be about those you love and who loves you. Don’t you agree?
Add Comment