Gaining life’s riches is about more than just earning a paycheck. Being truly wealthy means that you are investing quality time in your marriage or long-term relationship, devoting your time and energy to your children, making your home your sanctuary, and staying on top of your health.
For me, the lights of my world are my wife, Marjorie, our seven children, and working at something I truly love to do. But even beyond those blessings, success is also about truly being in the moment when I am with my family and having the energy and right frame of mind to continue doing the work that I love. Striking the right balance between my family, my career, my home life, and, yes, myself, only happens when I create a place to ensure that each area of my life receives quality attention. Here’s how you can begin to truly enjoy and savor the treasures that come along with your gift.
There was a time in my career when I truly felt like I was successful. I had the career, the money, the cars, and the clothes. I had finally risen to a level in my comedy career where I could go wherever and buy whatever I wanted. But if I was really honest with myself, I knew I wasn’t very happy. I worked hard, and I was proud of my success, but I wasn’t always the nicest person to be around. When you don’t have all your chips stacked properly, you might get good at hiding the truth from the public, your friends, and even your family. But at the end of the day, you know when your world isn’t quite right. I was a successful professional, yet I was missing out on life’s true riches. I had an off-the-hook brand with a less-than-stellar biography. I knew I had to create a life system that brought balance to how I looked at all aspects of my world and would prepare me to receive all of life’s riches instead of just financial riches.
Is your world currently off balance? If so, you’re not alone. The demands of today’s society almost force you to work a hundred hours per week to become a partner or put in 120 hours just to make it as an entrepreneur. And if you have children, your schedule becomes even more hectic, with homework and after-school programs and weekend activities. Then you have to consider time for exercising, eating right, connecting with your house of worship, and having meaningful time just for you.
I don’t believe that a true life balance is about time equity. There will be times when you have to put in more hours at work because your child’s tuition depends on the extra income, or when you must put in more time at home because your spouse needs the support. It becomes imperative to find flexible ways to check in with your family when your schedule becomes more demanding, or to negotiate alternative work options with your employer, such as working remotely or working at off-peak hours so that you can be there for your family and still pay the bills. And we all have to find ways to bring our physical well-being closer to the top of our priorities because without our health, we simply cannot function. So, are you ready to create a Success Balance that works for your life?
This is a simple formula that I have taken on in my life, and I want you to find ways to add this into your life, too. Here it is:
HOME + HEALTH + FINANCES = SUCCESS
The beauty of this formula is that as long as you are adding effort to each component every week, you will always maintain a successful balance. There’s one catch: Under no circumstances can your priorities for your home, health, or finances ever receive less than 5 percent of your attention each week. Let’s dive into each area and explore options for you to invest your time in ways that maximize your gift and position you to receive all life’s riches.
The word “home” takes on a different meaning for everyone. Your “home” could be the immediate family who lives under your roof, or your “home” could be your close circle of friends who are just like brothers and sisters to you. But whoever gets to reap the benefits of your success, you have to make sure that you are investing the appropriate time and energy into the people who are most important to you. Why? The answer is obvious—by the ways they enrich your life.
We all have our Greatest Hits of Excuses for not spending enough time at home. Here are some of them:
“Baby, you know I’m working these longs hours so that I can make money for you!”
“I’m sorry, son, Daddy was just too exhausted to make it to your softball game today.”
“I know I promised you that we would catch up for the last two weeks, but this project is killing me!”
In the famous words of Billy Dee Williams in the classic 1975 film Mahogany: “Success is nothing without someone you love to share it with.” Our success cannot exist when we don’t have the time, space, and energy to share it with our loved ones. Treat your home and family as a SACRED priority, and make sure everyone understands what that means. Make sure that every visitor to your home knows the rules of your house, and respects the place that you call home. Don’t allow anyone to just come up in your house and violate the peace and serenity that you have created for you and your family.
Your home is also about creating a space that becomes your sanctuary. When I got my first significant check, a friend came over to my house and told me I needed to hire a feng shui expert. Now, I’m just a regular country boy from Cleveland, and I certainly didn’t know what feng shui was nor was I too keen about having anything called feng up in my house.
But once I learned that feng shui was a technique for aligning your environment with your life’s priorities, I was open to it. I invited experts into my home to show me and my wife new color patterns that were supposed to encourage peace and prosperity. They showed us specific ways to arrange the furniture to invite in positive energy and attract wealth. Now, I don’t know if all that feng shui really worked (I had my pastor come in and bless the house just in case!), but having every aspect of our space in order made a huge difference in truly making our house a home.
Here are some specific ways to create quality family time:
1. Carve out dedicated family time.
2. Schedule time with your significant other.
3. Create fun time with the kids.
4. Pray and stay together.
5. Work on your “Honey, do . . .” list.
6. Consider hiring help.
I am committed to exercising every day at 3:45 a.m., regardless of whether I am at home or on the road. Why? Because my vision demands it. My daily schedule includes hosting The Steve Harvey Morning Show from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., producing and starring on The Steve Harvey Show from 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and after that I’m back home to take on my husbandly and fatherly duties. Even if I was ten years younger, there’s no way I could manage a demanding schedule such as mine without the energy and endurance I get from working out.
Here’s a typical Steve Harvey schedule:
3:15 a.m. |
Wake up/prayer |
3:45 a.m. |
Gym workout |
4:45 a.m. |
Report to Steve Harvey Radio Studio |
5:00 a.m. |
Radio show begins |
9:00 a.m. |
Radio show ends |
10:00 a.m. |
Conference calls and business updates |
10:30 a.m. |
Daily talk show production meetings |
11:00 a.m. |
Hair and makeup/dress |
11:30 p.m. |
Tape show #1 |
2:30 p.m. |
Lunch/conversation with Mrs. Harvey; business updates and conference calls |
4:45 p.m. |
Tape show #2 |
6:45 p.m. |
Wrap |
7:00 p.m. |
Postshow production meeting |
7:15 p.m. |
Depart for home |
8:00 p.m. |
Resume husband and fatherly duties at home |
At the end of the day, your health is your wealth. We have to put the time in to align our physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. We get one body to do our work here on Earth, so we have to be serious about getting our rest, eating well, and staying fit. Find out what works for you and get about the business of giving your temple the energy it will need to work your gift and fulfill your purpose. If you are slacking on your health, here are a few tips to get you moving in the right direction:
• Make sure you schedule (and keep!) your annual checkups.
• Take the time for some kind of physical activity every day, even if you have to start out with just twenty minutes.
• Choose a healthy diet that will give you the greatest amount of energy and strength for your lifestyle.
• Cut out any excessive alcohol from your diet.
• Drink plenty of water.
I’m not a doctor, but I know that your health is just as much a part of your wealth as the digits in your bank account. Give your body what it needs so that you can have the life you want.
My goal here is not to prescribe a certain belief system or to make you feel guilty about skipping your worship services more often than you attend. But I would encourage you to find a way to surrender to your spirit on a daily basis, whether that’s through prayer, meditation, finding a house of worship, or connecting with a small group of like-minded folks. Whatever will help you to remember that there is a bigger picture and a greater purpose for your life, get attuned to that vehicle for your spirit and keep that connection going.
Stress and the pressures of our high-powered lives have the capacity to significantly damage our health and our well-being if we aren’t paying attention. If you feel yourself veering into a dangerous emotional place that is beyond talking it out with a friend or a trusted spiritual leader, do not, and I repeat DO NOT, be too proud to check in with a mental health professional. Regardless of your race, gender, or economic status, we can’t afford not to take our mental health seriously if we want to fully enjoy our success and peace and happiness with our loved ones.
Whether you are a recent graduate just starting out or you have multiple businesses with your name on them, we can all be more diligent and proactive about our finances. Those steps can be as small as eating out less often or as big as refinancing your home. Successful people know how to use their money wisely today and set themselves up powerfully for the future.
A few years ago, right after Marjorie and I got married, I got hit with a tax bill to the tune of $20 million. I woke up to the nightmare of discovering that my accountant hadn’t filed my taxes in nearly six years. Here I was with the woman of my dreams, and I was facing a financial hole so deep that it was going to take me a minimum of twelve years to climb out of.
I came clean with Marjorie, and I started working hard. I took every speaking engagement, book signing, and in-person appearance I could find. I literally lived at the airport, but I wanted to show my wife that I was serious about getting our financial house in order. After signing a strategic deal to sell the Steve Harvey Radio Network, I was blessed to pay off that bill in half the time. That experience taught me that I never want to have a financial cloud like that hanging over my life ever again.
Financial health is about looking at your entire financial picture. Here are some areas to consider:
• Do you know the difference between good debt (for example, purchasing a home or condo or investing in your child’s education) versus bad debt (for example, carrying big balances on high-interest credit cards)?
• What can you do to cut down on your bad debt and increase the payments for your good debt?
• Are you willing to track your spending habits to see where you can cut back?
• Are you putting enough away for your retirement or your child’s college fund?
• What can you do to improve your credit score?
• Can you pay off your credit card with the highest interest rate?
• Can you get you a lower interest rate on any of your cards?
All of these factors determine how healthy your finances are. Here are five things that every success-oriented person must have for a solid financial foundation.
1. CREATE A MONTHLY BUDGET. Developing a budget (and sticking to it!) is essential for creating financial accountability for you and your family.
2. OPEN A CHECKING AND A SAVINGS ACCOUNT. Successful people know how to conduct their business aboveboard. Find a bank that you trust and start creating your financial future.
3. SAVE, SAVE, SAVE. Whether it’s five dollars a week or 10 percent of your paycheck, whatever you can comfortably do, invest in your life and your future by saving NOW.
4. FILE YOUR TAXES. It’s simple: Pay your taxes each year, on time. Uncle Sam has no regard for your social status. (Just ask any celebrity who thought they could get away with not paying taxes!)
5. INVEST IN YOUR CHILD’S FINANCIAL LITERACY. Talk with your children NOW about the importance of budgeting, saving, and investing.
Once you have the basics covered, you can consider the following:
• HIRING A FINANCIAL PROFESSIONAL. When you reach that tipping point where you need extra help to file your taxes or diversify your portfolio, it is time to consider hiring a bookkeeper, accountant, or financial planner. If you decide to hire a professional, make sure that you have an open relationship where you can check in about your finances at any time. At the end of the day, it is your money!
• CREATING MULTIPLE INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES. Look into ways to spread out your eggs in multiple baskets.
Remember, your finances, like your health and your home, are only as successful as your investment of time, energy, and excellence make them.