Edition 467 – 57
An indulgence today. It’s my birthday, so happy birthday to me. 57 years ago, a baby was born in Auckland, New Zealand to a single mother, who didn’t let her family back in Australia know about the birth, until she arrived in Sydney, with some extra baggage, on the 6th month anniversary of his world debut. It’s a long story, for another time.
57 is not usually a number you’d align with reflection. Mostly, I’ve seen, in others, that reflections come with milestone birthdays. However, for me, reflection comes often, and, as I’ve aged, there have been pivotal moments that have driven that reflection, that has led to a change in course, a refinement of purpose, or the seeking of something new.
The reflection, at 57, has taken place in the months leading up to my birthday, and has been driven by a single event that took place in late December 2024.
Our trip to the Caribbean and the USA in December was long planned for. In a lot of ways, it was the trip of a lifetime, to venture and see places we’d always heard about, but never had the opportunity to visit. As much as I hate the term, bucket list items were ticked off – Barbados, Bequia in St Vincent & the Grenadines, Key West.
However, I’m pretty certain it was COVID that I contracted on our cruise through the Caribbean, and which had me laid quite low for a few days, and dealing with the symptoms for 3 weeks. This, is in spite of all the pre trip precautions we took.
My wife, Trish, dodged the bullet, until the last day of our cruise. She came down scratchy, and proceeded to deteriorate throughout our time in Key West, where we spent Christmas 2024. After four nights in this tropical party town, it was back to Miami, to catch a flight to Los Angeles, being the last leg of our trip. She struggled with the 6 hour trans-continental flight, and our time in LA was more about her resting, and doing everything possible to speed up her recovery, than anything else.
As her condition remained poor, we contemplated delaying our return to Sydney, and staying an extra week. However, we both made the call, that it’s best to be home when you’re unwell, than anywhere else.
Mid-flight from LA to Sydney, across the Pacific, and without land anywhere, a conversation took place that I never, ever envisaged I’d countenance in my lifetime.
“I can’t breathe” replied Trish, when I enquired about her welfare. We’d been trying everything – asthma inhalers, various medications, hot water, you name it, to try and make her comfortable throughout the flight. However, this was, for me, a truly frightening moment.
Questions raced through my mind. Did I need to advise the crew? Would we need to seek out a doctor on board? Would the flight need to be diverted?
However, the questions were deeper than that. In terms of the commitment we’d made to each other all those years ago, was I going to be letting her down, by not taking care of her?
In terms of the obligation to our sons, was the holiday we’d been on, going to be something that our sons would blame me for, if their mother had suffered a medical episode?
It puts things in perspective, when your partner in life, says something that makes you think their life is at risk, and which they’ve never said before, in the 34 years we’ve been together.
The reflection from all of this? It’s steeled my resolve to:
- Continue to only work with people that I enjoy the company of.
- Continue to only do the work that gives me joy.
- Continue to make decisions to prioritise other elements of my life, other than my business.
- Treat the business as the foundation for my life – not as the reason for my existence.
This is the journey I’ve been on for a while. However those three words, in the middle of the night, somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, has only accelerated the process.
I’ve seen some business owners whose purpose is driven by ego, or money, or possessions. Yet, at the end of the day, aren’t the two greatest returns we can generate from our own business:
- Time; and,
- The flexibility to choose what we do, how we do it, and with whom?
This Week’s Tip
“Time is a gift – and money is a tool.”