Striking a Balance

For the past ten years, I have spent most of my time working for startup companies, or companies that were in the process of rapidly expanding their already established business. The lure for me has always been to be part of something new...part of creating something that previously did not exist. Every day at work was something exciting or new, and staying up until 3am working on a project for the next day was all part of the lifestyle. One time, I even found myself working on a project for work while I was on a cruise ship in the Mexican Riviera...over a VERY expensive satellite Internet connection.

But now, my lifestyle has changed, and the startup environment is like an annoying relative that you can't get rid of. I've fallen in love and gotten married, we've moved to suburbia, and we're thinking of starting a family....and I love all of those things about my life now....much more than the adrenaline rush I used to get from work.

So I'm looking for that 'thing' to do that balances my skills and talents, as well as my career ambitions, against the personal goals that I have in life. I've made the observation that couples who are extremely successful financially don't have the best marriages (because they're married to their jobs, not to each other), and that couples who focus on their undying love for one another instead of their careers find themselves eating beans and passing clothing down from their oldest son to their younger daughter.

I know I can't have both....it's fairly rare to be incredibly successful and have the perfect family life....but I want to do what I can to find a job where I can be reasonably successful and have a pension to look forward to in 25-30 years, and be a reasonably good husband to my wife, and father to my future children.

Is it possible? I don't know yet. But I am going to try my damnedest to find out.