View from the Summit

I received a phone call last week asking me to watch my two grandsons, 5 and 7 years old for 6 to 8 hours to allow my daughter and wife to take advantage of "Black Friday" shopping deals.

Well, two days prior to the shopping adventure my oldest daughter's babysitter fell through giving me the privilege to watch my two granddaughters on that same day, ages 6 and 12.

I thought at first I would let them play at my house, I considered bowling and various other fun activities, but at the last minute I canned all of the above.

This question invariably gets asked over and over throughout your entire adult life. I’m reading Business Brilliant right now and Lewis Schiff addresses the question right out of the gate in chapter two.

Many folks say that your true happiness is found in non-tangible things like a spiritual experience, for me it would be in Christ. Happiness is a choice, not a trait.

 As a leader of my family I think about the awesome responsibilities that are before me on a daily basis. I'm the sole provider financially and that alone is a mammoth undertaking. Do you ever feel the weight of all the tasks before you? 

Do you give much thought to not only the financial responsibilities, but the relational and emotional leadership that you are providing? It is an absolute privilege to be the man of the family, the patriarch. I think about all the gifts that have been bestowed on me, like my wife, daughters and grandchildren. 

John Lee Dumas is the host of Entrepreneur On Fire. A podcast show that is heard in 143 countries by over one million listeners each month, and he graciously invited me for a second interview last week. What an absolute honor and privilege to be 1 of 20 guest interviewed twice out of 780 entrepreneurs.

John and I devoted the entire show interview to discussing the value of living a significant life over just a successful one. Can they be lived simultaneously, absolutely!