Page 35 - How To Avoid Going Bust In Business

Conclusion

It can be a hard road running your own business. That’s something that the political
left-leaners never quite get their head around. They see the trappings of success
but not the hard grind, the stress, the work and the worry that lies in behind them.

Take some advice from one who has been through the chaff-cutter of business life –
get your work/life balance in better shape.

As the old saying goes “No one, on their death bed, ever says ‘I wish I had spent
more time at work’”.

I once lived in a substantial two-storey house in the best street in one of the best
suburbs in the city.

I had the prime minister’s number on speed dial. We mixed with the power brokers,
commercial and political.

My then wife and I were fixated on making money. There’s a line in the second Wall
Street movie that, when asked “How much is enough”, the character says “More”.

That was us.

Of my three step-children in that marriage two became drug addicts (now recovered
and thriving) and the third had been in three marriages by the time she was thirty.
(The last one is still going strong.)

I don’t know if that was a result of our drive for “more”.

What I do know is that these days, in my second marriage, where I live in a modest
suburb in a modest but mortgage–free house, I have four amazing kids that bring me
joy every day. I have a comfortable income and time to spend enjoying my family
and friends.

Stress is believed to be one of the causes of cancer. That might explain why I have
been hit four times by the Big C. I have beaten it off each time with the help of
amazing teams in our health system but I need stress like I need a hole in the head.
There’s no way I would trade the life I have now for that high-flying earlier life.

Hopefully the ideas and suggestions in this book from a battle-scarred old business
warrior will help you reach the same sea of serenity without too much damage in
your own life.