My social deterioration

Sometimes I wonder how I came to be an entrepreneur. Unlike other business owners I know, it wasn't something I dreamed about or even really had a desire to do. Up until about the age of 19, all I wanted to do was graduate, get a job like the one I had, and then spend my free nights and weekends working out, playing basketball, playing Madden, partying, and chasing girls.

I can't pinpoint the moment where I changed, but it was a slow process of me coming to a realization about the truth's of the working world and a realization that I had the potential to do so much more than my previous expectations allowed for. And then it was on.

From around the beginning of 2004 until now, my entrepreneurial endeavors have been my primary focus. People have always warned me that I worked too much, but I never felt like I was losing the balance necessary to be happy. In reality, I was wrong. I've spent the better part of 2 years blowing off everything else in my life (except my health...I still eat well and exercise) for entrepreneurial happiness.

My friendships are all either from high school and college, or formed from business. I don't get out very often, and when I do it's usually to have drinks or lunch with my new business partners. I used to date a lot. I used to play a lot of basketball. I used to have a few hobbies. I used to read a lot of books (non biz related). Not so much anymore.

This all kind of came to a head recently when I found out that BOTH of my most serious ex-girlfriends are now engaged...presumably each to the guys that followed me. Now don't get me wrong, I am happy for them, and I played a large part in initiating both breakups so no one should feel sorry for me, BUT it does leave one in my position feeling a bit inadequate. Since then I've been letting really stupid things piss me off, things I usually let roll off my back.

In reality, that feeling had more to do with the culmination of my social negligence and very little to do with me being bothered by two people I care about doing something that will make them happy. I've been neglecting too many things for too long in the name of SportsLizard/iPrioritize/SEO Playbook/Pure Adapt. Not any more. I'm going to take a page from my past and attack those things with the same passion and energy that I attack my work.

I'm confident in my ability to do my work and maintain a social life. What I'm not so confident in is my desire to do both. Too often my desires to succeed in business get in the way of my other desires, but after several years of placing work ahead of everything else, I'm making a commitment to making the rest of my life just as important as work. This doesn't mean that I won't work long hours or work on weekends, it just means that when I see an opportunity to do something fun with the people I care about or an opportunity to meet some new people, I won't pass it up in the name of work.

If you've taken the plunge like I have, you either have gone through or will go through what is hitting me right now. I'm pretty sure ANYONE who truly has a passion for what they do, has a tendency to neglect other things, and while their work ethic is part of what makes them great, it can also crumble them if they don't watch out. It's been an age old problem that may not have an answer, but I think you are one step closer to a solution if you acknowledge it...which I have failed to do until recently.