I once sat in a seminar many years ago that was conducted by Hiram Smith, time management guru, while he talked about the I-Beam.
This fictitious beam stretches from the top of one (no-longer existing) World Trade Center tower across to the other. This is more than a thousand feet in the air and somewhere around a hundred feet across. At this height the wind gusts hard on a regular basis. Hiram posed the question: What would you cross this inches-wide I-Beam for? Would you cross it for a million dollars? I know I wouldn’t. Would you cross it for ten million dollars? Most people would still say no. There probably isn’t an amount of money for which most people would risk a very real possibility of death. Now, let’s consider another scenario. Let’s suppose that your child or someone else that you love dearly is in a situation where they will die if you don’t cross the I-Beam. Do you think you would cross it now? Of course you would. I don’t need to know you personally to know that is true. Now, here’s the moral of Mr. Smith’s story; what’s more important, the money or the life? Yet how much time do you spend working on getting more money, and how much time do you spend with your children or other loved ones?
There probably isn’t an amount of money for which most people would risk a very real possibility of death.
The pages in this book can change your life, and it won’t hurt your ability to further succeed in business one bit. As a matter of fact it is going to help your business. You will treat your employees better, have more compassion, and inspire greater loyalty in your people. Your people will work more efficiently for you, and your profits will increase. Absenteeism will decrease substantially, and more qualified people will beat a path to your door to be part of your company.
As a matter of fact it is going to help your business.
Read, reflect, take notes, do the exercises, and use the worksheets that are found in the pages to follow. I promise you that if you follow the teachings in this book that the quality of your life will improve dramatically. Life can be a tranquil canoe trip. You can handle the waves and the rapids. You can speed up your canoe or slow down your canoe, but follow me and you won’t tip over!
I hope you have enjoyed this ten day trip through chapter one. I published “Live Full, Live Well” almost six years ago. Looking back on it, I wouldn’t change any of the concepts because they continue to work and actually they work even better now because of the continued expansion of technology. I could certainly add more stories though, because everyday the positive and negative examples of balance are all around. I hope you will pass my book onto others. I know it can make a huge difference for people. The book can be ordered at www.balanceprofessor.com.
I want to take this opportunity also to thank you for being a faithful reader of the blog. Each week my readership is growing and I appreciate you spreading the word. This is a part of my efforts to positively impact the lives of at least one million people.
I will now resume my multi-topic blogging.
