Health is Wealth

I am writing this post sitting in the hospital getting a full body health check up done. Once we start working, a lot us tend to ignore a lot of factors, which in the long run, will help keep us going.

For someone like me for whom my work is what drives me in life, I realise that if I have to keep working for the longest time possible, I need to keep a check on my health on a constant basis. Think of the time you are down with very high fever, at that point you can barely think about anything other than your health. Your work comes to a stand still.

Eventually everyone will have to suffer from health issues, which will disturb and hamper our work lives. Our effort should be to reduce this period by taking care of ourselves so that we can keep doing what we like doing for the longest time possible. Maybe late in life, but now is when I truly appreciate the saying - "Health is Truly Wealth".

Working with your Spouse

Should you or should you not? A question which may not have a same answer for everyone, but the reasons in favor and against this decision seem more or less the same in all cases.

My wife and I were working together in Beveragewala, although she was not formally a part of the business. She was involved in the daily operations and looked primarily after the packing/dispatching activities. Some of the experiences I had because of this and would like to share are as under:

POSITIVES

Better Understanding: Since we both understand each other very well and also the business, we were able to work together with a common vision.

Shared Passion: Since we both spend so much of time together, our individual passion and energy used to rub off on each other. Working late hours with no resentment back home is a big positive :).

Better Feedback: This is one positive I felt was very good for the business. Your spouse will not think twice before saying anything to you. My wife, from time to time, pointed out a lot of mistakes we were making and she was quite candid about them. A lot of the time we see team members not being very open and honest to each other because they feel uncomfortable and having a fear of being misjudged.

NEGATIVES

More Conflicts: There used to be more disagreements between us as we started spending literally 24 hours with each other. Space is required to analyse matters individually so that you can have a more unbiased view of things.

No Personal Life: Since both of us were working in Beveragewala and extremely passionate about it, we used to discuss it even when not at work. In some sense, we did not have a personal life while Beveragewala was running. This, though, is a more work-life balance issue.

Casual Attitude: Since the only person you need to answer is your spouse, you may tend to be more laid back and casual in your attitude towards your responsibilities at times.

To conclude, I feel there is no 'one size fits all' solution or suggestion. The best thing is to look at the pros and cons in your case and take your call on this.