Lately, I’ve been finding myself stuck in this loop of watching short-form videos — you know, those quick clips where everyone has an opinion about life and what’s the best thing to do for your family.
It’s funny because the advice is all over the place. Some say it’s simple: work as much as you can, earn as much as possible, and leave something behind. Build a safety net, a legacy, a future that your family can count on. I get it. Money solves problems, opens doors, gives options. Nobody can deny that. But I also know plenty of people who chased that path so hard they barely saw their family along the way.
Then there’s another camp — the people who say the opposite. “Forget working endless hours, be there now.” Time is something you never get back. They remind you that in the end, your kids won’t remember how much was in your bank account, but they’ll remember who was sitting next to them at dinner, or who was there in the stands cheering them on.
A third group says, travel. Take your family places. Show them the world. Create memories that will stay with them forever. And I’ll be honest, that one speaks to me too. There’s something powerful about shared experiences in new places — the kind of moments you can look back on for years and say,
“Remember when we did that?”
But then there’s a piece of advice I’ve been hearing more and more lately — and it’s the one I think is the hardest: take care of yourself. Eat healthy, work out, keep your body in shape. Because if you do, you’ll probably have more time here, and with better quality, to spend with the people you love. And the truth is, this is the one I personally struggle with the most.
It’s easy to dream about making more money. It’s easy to get excited about booking trips. It’s even easy to say, “I’ll spend more time with my family.” But taking care of your own health? That’s daily discipline. No shortcuts. No quick wins. No one cheering you on every morning to go for a run or choose a salad over a burger.
The benefits aren’t immediate either. You don’t lift weights once and suddenly become stronger. You don’t eat one healthy meal and add ten years to your life. It’s a slow process, and as people, we’re wired for short-term rewards. We love things that pay off now, not ten years down the road.
And that’s why it’s easy to push this advice aside. Because life is busy, tempting, and full of excuses. Work calls, family needs you, you’re tired, it’s late — there’s always a reason not to go to the gym or not to cook something healthy.
But here’s the reality I keep coming back to: if I really want to give my family more time with me — good time, not just existing but living — then taking care of my health might actually be the most important thing I can do. Money is important. Memories are important. Time together is important. But none of that matters if I’m not around to share it.
So maybe the answer isn’t choosing between money, time, travel, or health. Maybe it’s about finding a way to balance them. But even that is hard — so maybe the first step is to start by taking care of your body, and let the rest follow.
