March 2023 ~ Jacksonville Real Producers Pub Note

How do you do it all?

Opportunity Knocks When You Let Go

By Kristin Lunsford

Owning four businesses, having two active children, maintaining a home, rental properties, traveling, and having time for ourselves, Brian and I are often asked: “How do you do it all?”

The answer is: “We don’t!”

I used to have the mentality that you had to do everything yourself, but eventually realized that is not necessary or practical to get to where you want to go in life.

One of the ways Brian and I are able to do a lot of things is because of the people we choose to surround ourselves with in our businesses. We are incredibly grateful to now have a team of leaders who help run our companies. We found that not only does this allow more time freedom for us, but it also gives us the opportunity to focus on the bigger picture ahead–both professionally and personally. We quickly figured out that by empowering (letting go) and supporting (cheering on) these leaders within our businesses, they are often better than us at their respective roles and more passionate about them. So it’s a win-win for everyone.

Photo: Members of the LunsPro Inspections, Kingfish Pest Control and JoyLights leadership teams.

I did have to have a mindset shift though to get to this point. I used to think, “Why would I pay someone to do something I can do myself?” Then I remembered an economics class I took in college and the lesson on ‘opportunity cost’. Everything has a price, whether it be a dollar amount or your time. More money can be made, but once time is gone, it is gone for good.

Having young children at home, our number one priority is their well-being. We don’t miss their school events, sports games, or dance recitals. These days are fleeting, so we are willing to make other sacrifices in order to be present for them. To maximize our personal quality time, we will sacrifice money in exchange for time. For instance, we outsource things like laundry, lawn, and housekeeping to “get back” time. Rather than losing precious time grocery shopping, we have them delivered and instead use that hour working with the kids on their homework or throwing the ball outside. We get up early for our workouts so that important exercise time won’t pull us away from our kids or team members during the day. This looks different for each family, but the concept is the same.

Brian is thrilled that I’m there now with this concept as he’s been convinced for years that true success is time freedom, which inevitably opens up the door for the next exciting thing to happen. There is no honor in compromising your family and/or your own health for work. We have always encouraged our team members to not miss the important (big and little) moments in life. Our work will always be there when we get back.

To find joy and avoid regret, it’s critical to take the time (right now) to evaluate what is important to you at this time in your life and figure out ways to make those things a priority by pivoting or offloading certain time-consuming tasks at home and work. Not only will clarity emerge, but so will opportunity.