Jul

3

Does a businessman say on his death bed that he wish he spent more time at the office?

No. But I think it happens often that people look back on their lives and wish they had had more courage to take risks, and one interpretation of that may be that they wish they had worked harder to achieve their goals.

I've personally heard such things from several older people, including my grandfather. When he was a young man, he had a chance to get involved with a startup that went on to become a huge success. He passed on the opportunity, and regretted it for the rest of his life. Instead of taking his shot at controlling his own destiny (and yes, probably having to put in long hours for a few years), he took the safe path and was stuck in a boring, 9-5, middle management job for decades, working for others and never feeling that he had done anything significant. I vowed a long time ago never to let that happen to me.


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2 Comments so far

  1. Lanre on July 4, 2007 4:31 pm

    Management may cut back the hours, but nothing can cut down the attention you need to give.
    I find out as a young - ah - entrepreneur, that there’s a lot of attention you have to give - and the real test is, to keep looking or keep moving, when you have given whales of it already. It’s usually long-distance running; and you either enjoy it [mental wiring] or never dare try at all.
    Detail. The attention to detail are the test.

  2. John Styffe on August 26, 2009 6:55 am

    It is amazing that you with basically the same name refer to this quote. I often refer to this comment also. To me it means not missing out on time with family espcially children.

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