My resumé includes 25 years of sports broadcasting and writing. For the longest time, I thought I would do nothing else and was willing to sacrifice grades, family and friendships to pursue this dream.
I spent countless hours, and long days and nights in different cities watching NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA, and NHL games from the best seats in the house. Depending on the season, you could find me out of the house and away from the family sitting in front of Tom Glavine’s locker or in a Falcons locker room.
Then one night (I can still see it crystal clear), I was in the booth announcing minor league baseball game number 60 of a 130 game schedule, when I noticed a dad in the stands with his son who was close to the age of my own. I knew in a moment that this is what I should be doing; spending time with my son instead of so much time away from him.
As the game ended, I took off my headset, looked at my broadcast partner and mentor and said “I’m done.” Since then, I’ve met hundreds of men who have expressed surprise at the ending of such a fantasy job. My colleagues in the business called the next spring and wondered how I was doing without the game, and were somewhat perplexed to find out that I was doing great.
Having Tom Glavine’s cell phone number was cool, but being with my family is better. Knowing Terrell Owens is neat, but knowing my daughter is better. I still know several people in broadcasting or devoted to other careers and it’s surprising how many of them are lonely, divorced, or headed for trouble.
Trying to live a one-sided life is why so many "successful" people are unhappy. How do I know this? They’ve told me so.
A friend of mine from the carpet industry who once told me, “I don’t have a lot of money, I have all the money” lamented before his passing that he wished he could go back to the old white house in East Ridge rather than the place on the hill.
Let me challenge you to do something: Make a list of everything that competes for balance in your life. Then label everything from 1-to-10. Anything that doesn’t rank at least a 5 on the scale of importance or satisfaction, remove it from your life or reduce the time you spend on it. I recently did this myself and removed three commitments from my life.
It’s been a very freeing and balancing experience. I highly recommend it.
