#1180 The Scales of Life

Charles Darwin said, "If I had my life to live over again, I would have made a rule to read some poetry and listen to some music at least once every week."

For perspective, Darwin died before recorded music was available.  If it were available, I bet he would have said daily.

This quote sparks a multitude of thoughts and feelings in me. I think about balances, humanities, being uplifted, art, work, habits, and routines.

I think about the concept of time affluence versus time famine. I think about family & friends and my definition of success.  I think about my death.

I love to make money. I love doing deals. I love uncovering needs and selling effective solutions, and I love diving into businesses I know little about and learning their inner workings. I love being on stage getting a few laughs - maybe some applause and hopefully delivering actionable content and I love coaching. I'm blessed to be able to do these things and get paid for them.  While I've had my share of stress, I've always loved the way I got to earn a living.

I also love music, poetry, good mystery novels, Broadway plays, hunting, cooking, and learning Italian. I love spending time with friends, raising money and awareness for Cooley's Anemia Foundation, and chairing the High School Scholarship committee at The Columbus Citizens Foundation.

I love spending time with my wife, my daughters, their husbands, and, of course, my grandchildren.

I love spending lazy mornings at my Mom and Dad's house, toting a bag of bagels, sitting for a few hours, drinking coffee, and talking.

I love training my dog, jogging, and lifting weights.

I love foraging for wild greens, mushrooms, and berries.

I love curing and smoking game meat and drinking good vino. I enjoy taking trips and hosting dinner parties at my home. AND I love making money.

There are smarter people than I who are worth tens or even hundreds of millions and manage to make time for as many loves as I have, but I'm not one of them.

I decided, early on, to follow Darwin's advice (though I had not yet heard it) and divide my time between all of my loves. I speak of music and poetry, but they are a metaphor for all the subtler graces of life — those pursuits that feed the spirit, not the bank account.

I'm not telling you anything you don't know. Balance is essential.  One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from Zig Ziglar: "I want to have some of the things money can buy and all of the things it can't."

But balance isn't easy.  The universe rarely throws bags of gold at you without requiring that you give your time, focus, and energy to earning those bags.

Many of the teams and individuals I coach ask about morning routines. They have a notion that the most successful people have a magic morning routine that allows them to unlock the mysteries of the universe and shower in wealth and happiness by following that routine. They aren't that far off, but there is no mystery. There are two camps of people considered successful by conventional standards.

What they have in common, their morning routines, if you will, is that they plan. They enter a day with intention. Some (like me) consciously schedule the music and poetry, knowing it will impact the zeros in the ledger. Some people consciously fill their schedule with zero-making activities, believing they will enjoy the music and poetry later.

I cannot say that my way is the right one.  I can only say it is right for me.

Successful people know to "put the big rocks in first" (a nod to Stephen Covey). My big rocks were always "music and poetry."  Work had some big rocks, too. I couldn't always fit all of the big rocks from both sides of the ledger each week or day, but month in and month out, they all had their time.

Darwin sounds equally sagacious and regretful. No matter where you are in life, please stop for a minute and think about what Darwin said. What's your poetry and music? Be intentional and plan to read it and listen to it.

I haven't done any research on this, but I bet no one's last words were ever, "I only regret that I spent so much time doing the things I loved."