Lesson Learned - Balance

As part the Entrepreneurial Lecture Series we have to attend two out of class activities. I decided to sign for a free lunch with a business professional for one of mine. Jed Anderson, the president of a manufacturing company came today. He took a small 3-person operation and turned it into a $5 million organization. Lets be honest, I was impressed.

Well, as it turns out I'm not that interested in manufacturing, but I was interested in the lesson he had learned over the years.

I asked him, "How do you balance your family and running that huge business?"

At first he responded, well, my wife really keeps me in check. When I am spending too much time at work she lets me know. Good lesson - duly noted.

Then the real gem came out. While Jed was looking for a new piece land to build a larger factory he visited the site of an old steel facility in Springville, Utah. He asked us if any of us knew where it was, but no one did. He said he expected that because it had gone out of business a long time ago. Geneva steel actually bought it out. Anyway, while Jed was visiting the site and standing on the foundation of this old factory he realized something that has changed his life.

The men that used to run and work in this factory are long gone and so is their business. These men invested their whole lives into making this company profitable. There are likely many that worked so much it damaged relationships with family members and friends, but what was it all for? Now, there business is gone and no one even remembers its name.

We can work our whole lives, but we better invest our time into activities that moth and rust can't corrupt. No matter how hard we try to make work mean something, we can't take it with us. Now easy, I know we have to work to survive and God wants us to be anxiously engaged, but I am going to make sure that I keep things balanced.