Business Priorities vs. Priorities in Life
Author info: This is a guest post by Alan Johnson, the author of The Online Business Handbook.
A lot of online entrepreneurs who are just starting out get carried away, they end up only seeing one side of life and becoming blind to everything else. You can hear them go on and on about what they want to accomplish as online entrepreneurs, about how much they want to earn per month, per week, per minute and per second.
Becoming Wealthy - Your Only Goal in Life?
And you know what? If you are actually willing to work towards achieving such goals, you will most likely succeed at a certain point. One word of advice though: be careful what you wish for. More than a few online entrepreneurs let money get the best of them and become nothing more than slaves without even realizing it.
Any successful online entrepreneur can confirm: working for money shouldn’t be your most important goal, letting it work for you is what counts. In the end, again: if you work towards achieving your goals, dreams can come true but, down the road, they can also turn into nightmares.
Money as Your Top Priority – You Can’t Be Serious!
Even if you don’t come from a rich family, you can eventually become a millionaire if you do your job right. So what? Do you have any idea how many millionaires out there would trade everything they have in exchange for having a happy family, in exchange for being surrounded by people who love them for who they are and not for what they have?
Take it from a person who has been “around the block” for quite a while: friends come and go, that’s how things work in this world. Personally, I am at a point where I am more than secure financially. But I’ll tell you this much: without my family, everything would be in vain.
Family Comes First - Everything Else Is Just a Bonus
Don’t let yourself become blinded by greed. There are things money can never buy and it’s exactly those things which make life special in the first place. You can be successful as an online entrepreneur without being a notorious workaholic who thinks that he or she only represents a walking paycheck for the family.
That, my friend, is a foolish excuse and nothing more. From now, every time you use “I’m sacrificing the time spent with my family for their sake, so that I make more money and secure a better life for them” as an excuse, why not stop for a moment and think if you aren’t actually hiding behind it out of selfishness?
Do you want to secure a better life for your family? Spend time with them, stop acting like a walking paycheck because, in the end, it’s you they need, not those extra profits you could earn by making such a foolish sacrifice. You can be successful as an online entrepreneur without making sacrifices you will end up regretting down the road. Never lose track of what counts, never lose track of the things which actually make a difference in life. Everything else is just a bonus.
Best wishes,
Alan Johnson
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By Stak Loaded on May 21, 2008
That’s very true. Money is important but there are some things that will always be above it.
By Tom - StandOutBlogger.com on May 21, 2008
I guess a lot of people get caught up in making money to give a good life to their family. But I think if you asked the wife and kids they would prefer just to have their dad around.
By Dining Tables on May 21, 2008
Why online entrepreneurs? Just about anyone chasing that kind of life through whatever his poison can end up with a burn out. The observation and the advise is universal in its application.
By Ralph on May 22, 2008
Very interesting article, I don’t know why many people sacrifice their family for money as it is seriously not necessary.
By zaki on May 22, 2008
honestly, it is more challenging and difficult for those who love to make money online and at the same time have a family to spend time/love with…
By Children on May 22, 2008
You’ve got it right Ades! What’s the use of money when you don’ have a family to back you up!!
By Nicole Price on May 22, 2008
Alan, your posts are a pleasure to read everywhere. My priorities are clear. I want to make a certain amount of money and then let that money make more money for me. I don’t want to be working for 10 hours a day for the rest of my life.
By Recliners on May 24, 2008
I was very happy to read that post, since i agree with it. I think that earning money is not a means in it self, it is the means to an end. You should be making money only so that you and your family can enjoy a certain standard of living. If money making gets in the way of your enjoyment of family life and does not give you time for your family, then the very purpose of earning money is defeated.
By Recliners on May 24, 2008
Sorry in that comment i meant of say “an end in it self” not “a means in it self”
By Rajaie AlKorani on Jun 1, 2008
That post should make a lot of people start thinking, including me.