Bear with me for a minute as I’d like to quote one of my kid’s absolute favorites – Dr. Suess’ Oh, the Places You’ll Go:

“You’ll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You’ll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life’s
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.”

In my opinion we are living in an extremely complex (and stressful) period of American history – the recession, new leadership, downfall of “Corporate America” as we once knew it, financial turmoil, etc. Adding to these complexities, here we are communicating in so many different ways including the relatively new social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.

It hit me last week as I was laying with my 3-year old in his bed reading him this Dr. Suess favorite…life truly is a great balancing act. In fact, today we are likely balancing our day-to-day tasks and challenges while riding the unicycle (in a proverbial sense).

As a business owner, serial philanthropist, husband and father I often come to the crossroads of this great balancing act each and every day around 4:45 p.m. In fact, I often here this song by The Clash playing in my head everyday at this time – Should I Stay or Should I Go :) .

I’m very proud to say that I figured out at a very early age in my career, marriage and since beginning fatherhood that we all must maintain a healthy work/life balance…despite everything that surrounds us today.

I’ll be leaving work today at 5:00 p.m. as I try and do everyday. To spend the final waking hours with my two young boys…perhaps reading them a little Dr. Suess as they doze off around 7:30 or 8:00 p.m. I’m good like that.

What do you do to help manage your work/life balance? I’d love to do a follow-up post listing out all of the great ideas and suggestions. Thanks!