Work/Life Balance

Thought I'd write a little bit off topic today on real estate. I'm writing about work/life balance. It's actually not off topic at all now that I think about it.

My girlfriend the other day was describing me to one of her friends. Her friend asked what I was like. My girlfriend said, "Most people's drive is down here, but his is off the charts way up here. It's impossible to keep up and he is consumed by everything he does." Thanks Sugar.

Now I know most people will look at this and think it's both a compliment and a problem.

It's a compliment, because to me if you are going to have a high level of success you'll need to be immersed. If people aren't calling you crazy then you're probably not growing anywhere too fast. I've learned to get excited when people look at me like I'm a wild animal.

It's an issue when it comes to relationships. Relationships demand time. No matter what relationship it is, friend, family, wife, girlfriend, roommate. Depending on the person it may demand a lot of time.

The struggle is to balance work/life. I know most of you are doing this on the side of a 9-5 so immediately you are taking time away from others in your life and if you aren't then your business is probably not growing anywhere.

There is no plug and play answer when it comes to this paradox. How much is too much? Am I working too much and it's damaging to my personal life? Am I spending too much time with social obligations and it's causing my business to slack? Only you can truly answer those questions. It's different for everybody as we all have different obligations.

Personally I am so consumed with success that a long time ago I wrote off ever thinking about kids and family until I knocked out millionaire status, at least. In my case, my work is my life. Therefore it is always in balance. I will NEVER recommend anyone do this as it's not a favorable lifestyle. You have to be a certain individual to operate on this level all the time. However, it's what I love to do. I'm young and I have time. It's why I wake up excited everyday. I can go through my entire life with no family and feel fulfilled so long as I have my friends and a business that's growing. So long as I am accomplishing something and always moving forward. This is NOT the case for probably 99% of people out there.

One thing I do want to stress is if you do the work now it will serve you forever. The 17hr days 7 days a week will eventually be replaced with free time and tons of money if you want it. You don't have to go forever. The cool thing about real estate is you develop an asset. One that pays you and requires very little babysitting once it's going. The more money you make the more people you hire to make money for you. If you develop your business correctly then you'll be able to duplicate it and yourself exploding your wealth.

Whenever you get down about juggling 500 different things and struggle to find balance just remember you are trading a little bit of life now so you can have a lot of life later.

Own Your Situation,
Ben