"You've Got to Want To:" Committing to Work-Life Balance

On the June 13 episode of my Lykken on Lending podcast, we had the opportunity to discuss the subject of work-life balance with mortgage industry legal expert Mitch Kider and his three sons. It was a nice conversation about family values and a great tribute to Father's Day, but what really struck me was the amount of interest the episode received from listeners: the struggle of maintaining appropriate work life balance really struck a chord with the mortgage industry.
So, that's really the question, isn't it: how do you do it? We all know it's important to both achieve career success and invest in family relationships. But, how do you make the time for both? In our conversation, we asked Mitch's oldest son—as the one who had grown up and seen his father interact with his kids for the longest amount of time—this very question. How did he do it?
The answer to this ultimate question was simple and straightforward, but there's a brilliant truth in it. "You've got to want to," Mitch's oldest son said. Growing up, he noticed how his dad always made every effort to be with this family and to invest time and energy into the things that were important to them.
The bottom line is this: if you want something bad enough, you will make it happen. If you are struggling to spend enough time with your family, it may not be that you don't have time; it may be that you need to take a look at your priorities. And, if we're to be honest, we all need to do that from time to time. We are our commitments; so, we need to continually ask ourselves, "are we committing to the right things in the right amounts?"
David Lykken, a 43-year veteran of the mortgage industry, is president of Transformational Mortgage Solutions (TMS), a management consulting firm that provides transformative business strategies to owners and “C-Level” executives via consulting, executive coaching and various communications strategies. He is a frequent guest on FOX Business News and hosts his own weekly podcast called “Lykken On Lending” heard Monday’s at 1:00 p.m. ET at LykkenOnLending.com. David’s phone number is (512) 759-0999 and his e-mail is [email protected].