I recently drafted a post about how I was doing during my “midlife crisis.” I also dispelled some of the rumors of what a midlife crisis is, at least for me.
As I continue to grapple with the fact that I am 42 years old, I am making some pretty important discoveries.
One of those important discoveries is that I have discovered one of the key ingredients to living the life of a happy father. I discovered how you become rich and how that changes and focuses your life on what’s important. I’ve decided I want to gain even more wealth than I have today.
The kicker is for me being rich has nothing to do with money. For the busy father of five kids, the currency most valuable to me is time. Time to spend with my family. Time to talk with my teenage daughter about relationships and growing up. Time to explain to my son cleaning his room and doing chores isn’t a hassle, it’s an education in responsibility. Time to give my 4 & 2 year old a piggy back ride. Time to hold my newborn son and look in his eyes and share goofy grins.
Time. It’s more valuable for me than gold.
The issue with this knowledge is it’s hard to keep time in the bank. When you’re the sole provider for your family, you work and you sacrifice so that those kids can have a nice home, food on the table and whatever else they may need. You travel for business and enjoy your career yet yearn to be home in the middle of the madness.
All of my kids are important and they’re all at vital points of their development. It’s hard to devote the time. I guess my desire to be there as much as possible weighs more on me than it does them. Yet I can’t shake the fact I need more time to spend with them. Who knows how much time we have on this Earth.
I want to win the time lottery. I need more time for my kids and I need more time for my wife.
I’ll do more on my end to create and reserve the time but don’t waste any yourself. You can buy another house, a car, a sweater, an iPad – you can’t buy another day.
Invest in the most valuable currency a man, father and husband can – time with those that you love.
As the Director of Social Media at tax giant H&R Block, Scott Gulbransen recently returned to the tax business after previously spending 1o years at rival Intuit working on the TurboTax & Quicken brands. He brings 16 years as a marketing communications professional, and 11 tax seasons, with him to H&R Block and was responsible for the launch of many key social initiatives at Intuit before leaving in 2010. A strategic thinker and business problem solver, Gulbransen has worked for some of the world’s top brands including TurboTax, Sony Online Entertainment, and Applebee’s.
In 2010, Gulbransen became the first Director of Social Media & Digital Content for Applebee’s, creating the first-ever social media strategy for the world’s largest casual dining chain. While at Applebee’s, Gulbransen lead a small but nimble team responsible for creating a robust and far-reaching social engagement channel for Applebee’s and its franchise community.
In addition to his professional accomplishments at the corporate level, Gulbransen is also a prolific blogger recently named as one of the Top 50 Daddy Bloggers in the US by Cision. Gulbransen was ranked #21.
As a member of the TurboTax communications and social media team for 10 years, Scott helped the TurboTax team launch and sustain the brand’s social media platform. He also drove and was responsible for the launch of TurboTax’s successful content strategy, including the launch of the TurboTax Blog. Recently, he launched one of the most significant social media campaigns in the brand’s history with the @TeamTurboTax Twitter project.
Gulbransen was instrumental in reinvigorating the Quicken brand almost entirely through the use of social media and, particularly, Twitter. By engaging with customers and influencers who talk about personal finance on Twitter, he and his team helped Quicken Online grow from just 200,000 users in October 2008 to over 1.4 Million in just 10 months. This led to a more focused look at the personal finance space for Intuit and, ultimately, the acquisition of Mint.com.
A former print journalist, who, after realizing his paychecks from the newspaper industry weren’t going to get much bigger, turned to the Dark Side – public relations. After working in both college athletics and inside mid-size agencies, he joined Intuit in 2000 and Applebee’s in 2010. He is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and is the married father of five kids.
Despite his busy personal and professional life, Scott is a digital native who never strays far from social networking. To hassle Scott, or to tell him how great you think he is (or not!), email him at scott@scottgulbransen.com, add him to your Circles on Google+, or ping him on Twitter at @sdgully. Scott also is an editor and writer for Technorati.com.
I recently drafted a post about how I was doing during my “midlife crisis.” I also dispelled some of the rumors of what a midlife crisis is, at least for me.
