Faith, Family, Business: A Rant

“Faith, Family, then Business”

That’s the credo of many motivational speakers, company leaders, and frontmen. It is also phrased as “G-d, family, then work.” It is how they tell you to prioritize your life in order to achieve success.

I have to disagree, though. If your faith is more important than your family, that’s your business. G-d gave me my wife, and honoring her honors G-d. Without her, faith is diminished; without her, I have no business. Surely I can’t be the only one in this boat.

Empirical evidence points to anyone employing the slogan of “faith, family, then work,” being full of hubris and poison.

Who has employed this slogan? Among the offenders are:

• My district manager at AFLAC
• Most of the speakers Farmers brought in
• Every single speaker AFLAC had
• The (now deceased) owner of Spa One, which closed without warning leaving about 70 people unexpectedly unemployed
• Three other speakers who championed this phrase whom I had the “pleasure” of listening to, while they skewed data for their purpose

The companies that endorsed this phrase have, in my experience, by and large, been perpetrators of lies. They have hurt both clients and employees, people and their families.

I think the problem comes from people who wear their adherence of faith as a token of validity. The problem is people eat this up and think “Hey, I want to live like that,” and don’t think about repercussions. Putting your family second can leave them feeling unloved and backburnered.

Hell, if I was too sick to take care of myself and my wife wanted to go to Synagogue, I would feel jilted. I know she would feel the same.

My proposal for all my workers will be “Physical needs, spiritual needs, then work.”

Take care of yourself and your loved ones, then take care of your heart and mind, then your business. That will let you live more strongly, sustainably, and ethically. I just can’t be aligned with the hubris and lies that “faith, family, then work” has shoved at me.