I'm back....things have been crazy!   We have more help now so I am carving out more time for writing....whether you like it or not! 

We took the company for a week-long retreat to Belize a couple weeks ago, where we held all of our strategic planning meetings.  Needless to say, it was pretty phenomenal!  Beautiful sand, clear water, turtles, sharks, rays, fish, coral and plenty of stories.  It may have been one of the best things we have done yet!  Everyone had a great time and the fact is, we also got a lot of planning done.  Company culture is very important to me, whether it's our company, a client's or people that make the things I buy.  I think the biggest plus about Spych is the fact I can honestly say I love everything about my job, day after day.  Are there times when I may not be particularly thrilled about crunching numbers, inputting expenses or balancing out the finances? Absolutely, but those are the exceptions and I'm okay with that.

What is it that you could do every day for the rest of your life, and be happy? What is something that could keep you motivated to do your best and keep pushing forward? For me, its conversation. I thrive on great conversation and speaking with people who make me think.  Really think. I guess I kind of got lucky enough to figure it out when I was a little kid, but for some reason I used to always think about when people talked about having "the best day of their life". I'd hear it in music, see it on TV and hear people talk about it in conversations. I eventually ended up on the conclusion that every day had the potential to be the best day of your life. So, I pretty much kept that in mind from then on. I know, i was a strange kiddo, but at least I was an optimistic one!

When you put it into perspective, it's true. How often do we think about it though? We wake up in the morning, scurry along to get ready for work, school, or whatever else our day brings, and we don't think about the potential of the day until something outstandingly positive or negative happens. I'm a person that believes in self-fulfilling prophecies. I know we can control our attitude, and to me, that can shape the majority of situations and conversations that occur throughout our day, or at least how we react to them. What if you wake up and consciously think about the potential for the day to really be the best day of your life? Some days it will end up being average, some below average, but do you think it could affect the progression of the "best" days of your life? I venture to say yes.

I hope tomorrow is the best day of your life...and the next day is even better!

BTW - if you're wondering, I had a pretty dang good day today. Was it the best? Maybe not, but at least it had the chance ;) 

After finishing up a late night of packing I was on my way back to TX. I flew my best friend, Joe, up to help me make the trip back. We ended up making it back in a little over 22 hours and without any wrecks, car trouble or tickets!!! In my book, I consider that a success.

Tonight I go to bed officially back in TX and, in my mind, home. I was definitely filled with a whole series of emotions as I shut the door and closed the lock to the moving trailer and locked up the house in PA one last time on Friday.  So many things happened in these last two years and, in a nutshell, I really believe I can attribute much of the last two years to truly “finding” myself.

There are so many things I learned both professionally and personally over the course of my time spent living in PA, and in some ways the move back here to TX is a whole new chapter. It’s a chance to further grow as an entrepreneur, expand our business, a fresh start in new relationships and a move to do what I know is best regarding family and friends.

Often, when writing for this blog, I find myself searching for the blend of ways to provide value and insight into the professional and personal sides of my life. As I was thinking about different points to include in this post, an interesting discussion occurred when I was giving a couple guest lectures at Temple University. A student asked me if “as an entrepreneur and business owner, my (personal and professional) lives ever seem to blend together?” My answer was yes, and initially I felt somewhat guilty, but nonetheless, honest. Now that I think about it, how can they not? I truly love and am extremely passionate about what I do and what Spych represents. I pour hours of hard work into making it successful and no matter how much you strive to separate work and personal life, for me it is somewhat impossible. But is that really a bad thing?

I had a really great conversation with Carla Blumenthal tonight about this topic as well. Carla and I talked about a few different things that really made me think further about what I planned on writing in this post. I have been blessed to work with some really great people, whether they are clients of Spych, other AMA Board members or other research colleagues. I guess, because of this, I tend to find the direct line between work and personal life a bit blurred. Sure, I have friends who are not at all related to my work (mainly my closest ones) and others who I purely consider work-related. But, why have we started to insist and force such a dichotomy between work and personal life? If you love what you do and are passionate about doing it, then how and why do we set that completely aside? In theory, I know when people talk about work vs. personal we do not rule out having friends that live in both spaces, but I feel like we may tend to associate a little too much importance in completely separating the two.

Another thing Carla and I spoke about that directly related to an issue I wanted to address in this post is personal community. Rather than focusing on trying to delineate a separation between my work and personal life, the past two years have helped me to recognize and establish my personal community. Those who I interact with on a consistent basis, reach out to for advice, or just to lend an ear, shoulder or hand. Carla asked if my crazy travel schedule impacted the ability to maintain a close personal community. Truthfully, it did, but maybe not only as you would initially expect. Yes, it was difficult to maintain all of the different friendships and regular communications I had when living in TX and traveling less. But, on the other hand, it really helped me to mature, enrich and increasingly value the relationships I have with those in my close inner circle. To that point, as I mentioned earlier, moving back to TX represents a few different things.

On the personal front, I wanted the opportunity to spend more time with my family and close friends. Some of you know the battle my dad is fighting with cancer and I knew in my heart that it was the right time to come back and try to be around my mom and dad when I am not on the road.

On the business front, Spych is rapidly gaining traction in the DFW area and it made sense to establish it here when we launched it as its own company from its initially life as a division of DGA. When I am not on the road for research or speaking at conferences, I have the benefit of being able to work remote and from home. This helps with the ability to spend some time around my dad.

To truly fulfill my responsibilities on the Board for the DFW AMA , and to do what it takes to provide a true value to the students, it requires me to spend more time with all of my collegiate representatives and act as a liaison and source of help. Being back in TX is key in allowing me to help them, which is a huge passion of mine.

With all signs pointing back to the Lone Star State, I’m back. I am ready to see what the next years offer and spend time back in the place I call home. I know continual change will come my way, but I am excited to not know exactly what is around the corner and look forward to taking the passion I have for my work and working toward taking Spych to new levels. When you take a close look at all three of those points, again it shows the influence my work and personal lives have on each other. By no means do I suggest sending e-mails out on dates, or bringing your laptop on vacation, and I recognize the situations in which work must maintain a clear separation. But where do we really need to draw a distinction? It’s a personal choice and I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Great to be home!