As we finish out the year of 2012 it provides an opportunity to look back at all of the things we all have to be thankful for. I feel so fortunate to have a caring and supportive family, friends that make life interesting and team members that make work a fun place to be. One of the things I am most thankful for are the client partners my company serves.
In any service industry it is not always possible to say that you truly enjoy working with each and every client you provide services to but I am very fortunate that I can say that exact thing. Not only are the organizations themselves important and provide great benefits to their members but all the volunteer leaders that are part of the organizations are great to work with. Working for people you like and enjoy interacting with is like getting a gift every day.
Something we should all find time to do is give back to the community we live in a consistent manner. For me that means staying involved with activities my family is involved in. I am currently Treasurer in the school PTA, a coach for my daughter’s soccer teams and I stay involved in industry organizations such as MASAE (http://www.midatlantic-sae.org/). For me giving back also means monetary donations to a variety of charities that are centered around the issue of hunger and honoring our veterans. The hunger related charity I provide a monthly donation to is Feeding America ( www.feedingamerica.org). Feeding America can provide 8 meals for every dollar donated. One of my favorite Veteran based charities is the Fisher House Foundation (http://www.fisherhouse.org/ ). The Fisher House Foundation donates “comfort homes” that are built on the grounds of major military and VA medical centers. These homes enable family members to be close to a loved
one at a stressful time.
This season my family and I also prepared dinner for the guests of the local Ronald McDonald house ( http://www.ronaldhouse-snj.org/). Ronald McDonald House of SNJ provides a home-away-from-home to families of seriously ill and traumatically injured children who are being treated at nearby hospitals and operates 11 Ronald McDonald Family Rooms within pediatric units of hospitals across the Southern New Jersey region. They have a program where families or organizations can come in and prepare dinner for all the families. If you are interested in getting involved or donating to Ronald McDonald house click the link provided earlier in this paragraph. Preparing dinner was fun and a great way to spend time with our direct and extended family. We prepared our traditional Ukrainian Orthodox Christmas Eve dinner for the approx. 70 guests. Below is a picture of us preparing the food. My 9 year old daughter had a great time preparing dinner and playing with some of the children that were there.
In any service industry it is not always possible to say that you truly enjoy working with each and every client you provide services to but I am very fortunate that I can say that exact thing. Not only are the organizations themselves important and provide great benefits to their members but all the volunteer leaders that are part of the organizations are great to work with. Working for people you like and enjoy interacting with is like getting a gift every day.
Something we should all find time to do is give back to the community we live in a consistent manner. For me that means staying involved with activities my family is involved in. I am currently Treasurer in the school PTA, a coach for my daughter’s soccer teams and I stay involved in industry organizations such as MASAE (http://www.midatlantic-sae.org/). For me giving back also means monetary donations to a variety of charities that are centered around the issue of hunger and honoring our veterans. The hunger related charity I provide a monthly donation to is Feeding America ( www.feedingamerica.org). Feeding America can provide 8 meals for every dollar donated. One of my favorite Veteran based charities is the Fisher House Foundation (http://www.fisherhouse.org/ ). The Fisher House Foundation donates “comfort homes” that are built on the grounds of major military and VA medical centers. These homes enable family members to be close to a loved
one at a stressful time.
This season my family and I also prepared dinner for the guests of the local Ronald McDonald house ( http://www.ronaldhouse-snj.org/). Ronald McDonald House of SNJ provides a home-away-from-home to families of seriously ill and traumatically injured children who are being treated at nearby hospitals and operates 11 Ronald McDonald Family Rooms within pediatric units of hospitals across the Southern New Jersey region. They have a program where families or organizations can come in and prepare dinner for all the families. If you are interested in getting involved or donating to Ronald McDonald house click the link provided earlier in this paragraph. Preparing dinner was fun and a great way to spend time with our direct and extended family. We prepared our traditional Ukrainian Orthodox Christmas Eve dinner for the approx. 70 guests. Below is a picture of us preparing the food. My 9 year old daughter had a great time preparing dinner and playing with some of the children that were there.
This holiday season was very busy as it always is for us and I think safe to say that is the same for almost everyone these days. There were many personal reasons for the family being busy but as always all the year-end activities for all the client partners my team and I provide services for added to the busy nature of the season. The busy times provides an opportunity for me to practice something I have been trying to master for years – establishing a work/personal life balance. I am the first to say that this is a work in progress. In current times when we are constantly connected though smart phones and tablets it is even more important to take stock of how we are doing in the allocation of our time. Below are a few links that have some useful information on how to establish that balance. If you figure it out please drop me an email. I can use any good advice.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/work-life-balance/WL00056
http://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/5-strategies-for-life-balance
http://www.forbes.com/sites/sundaysteinkirchner/2012/10/04/3-tips-for-achieving-your-worklife-balance/
http://workawesome.com/work-life-balance-2/worklife-balance/
As a small services based business owner I almost never stop working but one tip that has really helped me and my family is our “no phone” time. We make sure we dedicate time as a family to read, play, talk, do homework together or some other family related activities and when we do these activities all the smart phones go away so we can focus on each other. The other item that has helped me recently is closing the home office. And when I say close I mean close – I shut the computers and lights off and shut the doors so it is as if the room does not even exist.
One of the days the office will be closed is New Year’s day. I plan on spending about 8 hours with my daughter assembling her Lego sets that Santa brought. I am not sure if 8 hours will be enough but we will try our best. After this recharge it is back to doing what I love to do – serve my clients to the best of my ability.
Best wishes to all of you for 2013. Please be good to yourselves and each other.
Tim
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/work-life-balance/WL00056
http://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/5-strategies-for-life-balance
http://www.forbes.com/sites/sundaysteinkirchner/2012/10/04/3-tips-for-achieving-your-worklife-balance/
http://workawesome.com/work-life-balance-2/worklife-balance/
As a small services based business owner I almost never stop working but one tip that has really helped me and my family is our “no phone” time. We make sure we dedicate time as a family to read, play, talk, do homework together or some other family related activities and when we do these activities all the smart phones go away so we can focus on each other. The other item that has helped me recently is closing the home office. And when I say close I mean close – I shut the computers and lights off and shut the doors so it is as if the room does not even exist.
One of the days the office will be closed is New Year’s day. I plan on spending about 8 hours with my daughter assembling her Lego sets that Santa brought. I am not sure if 8 hours will be enough but we will try our best. After this recharge it is back to doing what I love to do – serve my clients to the best of my ability.
Best wishes to all of you for 2013. Please be good to yourselves and each other.
Tim
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