“Put your own oxygen mask on first, before helping others…"
~Trish the Stewardess also me to you right now
Freedom Father,
I don’t think sacrificing your family is noble. I think it’s bad business.
Most of us were handed the same script:
Provide more → be gone more → “one day” they’ll appreciate it.
That’s how I lived: 95% work, 5% family. Uniform on, phone on, always “on call.” On paper I was a “good provider.” In reality, my wife was barely hanging on and my kids were getting my leftovers.
Then I overcorrected.
We sold the house, moved into an RV, and suddenly I was physically with my family 24/7… and mentally at war.
Playing with my kids while thinking, “I’m falling behind.”
Working on the business while thinking, “I’m becoming that ghost dad again.”
More proximity did not equal more peace.
That tension exposed the real problem:
It’s not that family and business are incompatible.
It’s that most of us build businesses that only work if we neglect our families.
I call this the Provider Paradox:
We trade today’s memories with our kids to chase money…
so we can use that money later to try to buy back the memories we skipped.
Bad trade.
So here’s the simple system I’m using right now to steady the ship. You can steal it today:
The Provider Pyramid
Base corners:
• Your health (physical + mental, not just “passing the PT test”)
• Your income (actually providing)Top:
• Presence with your family (daily, not just a 2‑week vacation)
Calendar Your Priorities Like a Grown Man
Block your day so all three sides get fed:
• Morning: YOU (workout, reading, prayer/journaling – whatever keeps you sharp) - Put your oxygen mask on first
• Work Block: ATTACK THE BIGGEST CONSTRAINT in your business, not busywork.
• Family Block: Scheduled, non-negotiable time with wife/kids. Treated like a key meeting.
One Rule: Ruthless Presence
When it’s workout time: no email.
When it’s work time: no guilt, just execution.
When it’s family time: no “I should be working” or doomscrolling. Phone down, eyes up.
Will it be perfectly balanced every day? No.
Some seasons work takes more. Some seasons family does.
But if you don’t deliberately design your time, the “mission” will quietly cannibalize your home.
If you refuse to believe that success has to cost you your kids, watch the first interview in this new series where I sit down with a dad who actually broke the trade.
Building with you,
George
Founder, Freedom Fathers
P.S. If you’re looking for a sign to shut the laptop and go wrestle your kids, this is it. Bonus points if you don’t pull a hamstring trying to prove you’ve still “got it.”