Knowing one's limitations

I'm not particularly talking about mental, physical or emotional limitations, I guess I mean the ties that bind us. If I take a quick look in the mirror I see a dad, a husband, a business partner, home owner, all of the above and more.

These roles all have responsibilities and it is these responsibilities that limit a lot of what I now can and cannot do. An important thing to remember is that I chose these, not just willingly but went out of my way to achieve. 

As a dad I want to be there for my children, help raise them, watch them grow, share as much time as I can with them. As a husband I want to be as much as a soul mate to my wife as she it to me, share our lives together and provide for the family. As a businessman I have made commitments to our clients and more importantly my business partner who is also my brother. As a home owner I have major financial obligations that must be met. This is truly a mixed bag but perhaps two of the most obvious limitations come down to time and money. Both and considerable challenges, not entirely impossible, just almost.

Although this is a personal journey, as I highlighted earlier, I would like my entire family to learn the life less ordinary. This however means that I have to consider their obligations and responsibilities. Just looking at the time constraint alone poses many challenges. My wife works and only has limited holidays. Due to this she is also unable to make all the school runs so I have to handle these.

The kids have school and their education is important as well as the social life it also provides them. We are constrained as to when they can and cannot have time off as well as needing to fulfil their homework obligations. There is also their hobbies and the after school clubs and activities to factor in. They should not in anyway have to suffer as a consequence of my choices.

In terms of the business I do have an ace up my sleeve. Being in IT means that I can pretty much work from anywhere I have a laptop and an internet connection and being self-employed affords me some flexibility in choosing when I do the bulk of my work.

The choice of being a home owner brings financial obligations, which is why both my wife and I have to work. The house is also in need of much work which my wife, as the home-maker, is understandably keen to progress. With this in mind the financial challenge is a major obstacle. If as I said at the outset the life less ordinary activities are to be in addition to, not instead of, my current lifestyle then it means the associated expenses will be in addition, unless of course I choose to start making sacrifices (not the children I might add).

Given the above, finances are perhaps the first obstacle to tackle. The kids do have a lot of time off in holidays across the year, and I do have a good degree of flexibility in when and where I work. My wife does not have as much holiday allowance as the kids but if she did not have to work then we could make use of these advantages. However, I am by no means the first to spot this type of opportunity. 


I frequently see adverts for cheap flights 'just £15 per person each way" and immediately I think of spontaneous trips away to foreign destinations. This is of course short lived when I try to book said flights for the family. As anyone else who has tried to book these will know these are for mid-week off-peak times which anyone who works or has family cannot make. Any parent who has ever tried to book a family holiday knows full well the price difference between holidays outside of school holidays and during school holidays. Yep the £15 per person suddenly becomes something more like £300 per person.


Time and money are without a doubt going to be big challenges, but perhaps not the biggest ....