One of my best friends at work is leaving the company because of a health issue in her family. Everyone at our small startup is super sad because she is both universally-liked and highly talented; leaving a positive lasting impact on many areas across the company.
More importantly, though, this action has made me (and likely a ton of others) reflect on what’s important in life. She made the decision to quit, remove any distractions, and focus on her family, and not a single person is questioning that decision - it’s 100% the right one.
The question then is - are we all waiting until something bad happens to take time away, prioritize what (and who) is really important, and work to live rather than the other way around?
I always justify working long hours, talking about work, and thinking about work, because I enjoy it. That’s the truth. But if I were to find out a family member or close friend fell ill, I wouldn’t think twice about quitting and never letting work enter my mind again until it was resolved. Similarly, in ten years time, I’m never going to look back on the previous decade and remember the times I responded quickly to an email or helped close an additional sale.
I’m proud of my friend for making this decision which is not necessarily in line with the cultural norms of the US working world. It’s a good reminder that we’ll never get time back, so it’s important to disconnect from work, and truly connect with the people you care about.
I’m ready to head home in a couple weeks and I’m so excited to take the entire week off, remove notifications from my phone, and just enjoy time with family.
I hope you do the same sometime soon.
Thanks for reading,
Mike