Good morning, Leaders! It’s Friday! (I’m posting this one a little earlier than normal so I can focus on what’s what when)

This week my wife Carole and I celebrate 32 years of marital commitment to each other. We raised a family together, invested in the communities we lived in, supported and demonstrated care for each other, navigated countless challenges and still manage to have heartfelt conversations now and again when we’re not distracted by the busyness and hard edges of life.

A few years ago I was talking with my friend Rajesh from Wisconsin. He told me as we looked around the room of design professional leaders, “Any one of us could get a job somewhere else…but could you recreate the life you now have with your family? It’s important to get (and keep) your priorities straight. Figure those out and everything else will fall in place.”

I’ve been through three and one half career moves (out of, in to, out of and almost in to again) since then. Each one painful…but progressively less so. Practice makes permanent. I keep thinking I can will my way to keeping a role but safe choices and the right choices are rarely the same. My voicemail used to conclude with a deliberate “Make it a great day!” because I believe attitude is the gate to the mind and one of the few things I have 100% control over. This does not translate to keeping a leadership position just because that’s what I prefer. There are entirely too many other variables at play for you to have ultimate control over your career. Besides attitude, staying within the bounds of legality, morality and ethical behavior, your choices may impact you differently than you’d like to believe.

In a marital relationship, there are fewer variables and the choices you make are more obvious. For instance, when I ignore my 50% equity partner, there are swift repercussions that hit the bottom line. Also, “for better or for worse” is a stark comparison to working in an “at will” employment state.

My path to vulnerability includes an admission that my desire for clarity as it pertains to “how much?” continues to consume more brain power than it should.

How much
•time should I spend at work?
•time can I spend at home?
•time do I spend on myself, restoring my soul, without feeling guilty about it?
•time will I spend in prayer?
•how much nest egg do we need to be comfortable when the paychecks stop coming?
•how much of the time, talent and treasures I have been blessed with do I give to others?

Continuous calibration of these items is not necessarily healthy but will likely continue for some time to come. I know that an abundance mindset is far better than a scarcity mindset but it is a daily effort to keep this priority straight.

Since meeting the woman who consciously elected to become my bride, I’ve worked for seven different companies. Some I knew were temporary, some I thought were until retirement but all were meant to help advance the mission of the Michel family to be successful.

Have a blessed weekend! and remember to show and tell the ones you love just how important they are to you.