Let’s be honest, trying to balance any hobby with business and family is like trying to land a trick shot in Call of Duty while making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for a 3-year-old, as his 9-year-old sister yells at her 6-year-old brother to put his pants on, because he decided it would be a good idea to “Give the neighbors a full moon”. Crazy sentence, right?
You’re dodging bullets, spreading peanut butter, grinding ranked play, answering text, and, oh, what’s that? Your kid needs you to pause the online game? Sure buddy. Let me just tell Activision to hold on a sec.
If you’ve followed my journey so far, I’ve talked about this balance before in Where This Is Going: Building A Brand & Business.
The Real Struggle? Going Easy on Yourself
For me, the hardest part of balancing all of this isn’t the actual balancing act; it’s not beating myself up over it.
I’m constantly wondering:
- Am I doing enough?
- Am I giving my kids enough attention?
- Have I checked in with my fiancé today?
- When’s the last time I ate something that wasn’t a leftover chicken nugget?
And the worst part? The wake-up moments don’t hit me when I’m playing games or working on business. They hit me when I get sick or depressed. That’s when my body says, “Hey man, you might want to chill for a second.”
But here’s the thing, I’ve kind of learned to accept that perfect balance is a myth. Some days, I’m all in on gaming. On other days, I’m deep in work mode. And some days, it’s just me, my family, and no distractions.
Instead of chasing perfect balance, I just focus on doing my best and forgiving myself when I feel stretched too thin.
This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. But you know I only recommend stuff I use or would happily add to my cart.
The Family Side: What Do They Think?
Fiancé status: supportive but slightly confused
My fiancée Katie is all in on what I’m doing. She doesn’t fully understand how this all works, but she trusts me. She’s very, “Do what you got to do, I’ll follow you. Also, DON’T screw up”. JK JK She’s excited because I’m excited, and that’s enough for her, and that’s exactly why I asked her to be my wife!
Kid Status: Waiting for us to go viral
The kids have no idea what’s going on, but in their minds, we are one viral clip away from being famous.
They game with us all the time, Fortnite, Roblox, Astrobot, whatever they’re into at the moment.
We’ve got our own little gaming setup at home, and it’s become part of our daily life:
- Katie on the PlayStation 5
- B & Owen on Nintendo Switch
- Tucker on PC or PS5 (If you have a Dr Pepper or Jelly beans, he’s playing what you’re playing)
And do I ever feel guilty for gaming when I’m not with them? Nope. And every parent knows exactly why. Sometimes you just have to get away from the little boogers for a second.
Family is just one of the reasons I left the 9-5 grind. Read more in Why I’m Betting on Myself & Family.
Our kids love gaming with us. The Nintendo Switch has become a family staple, and Skylight helps us schedule “Video Game Time”.
The Business Side: Where It Fits In
I don’t feel stretched too thin trying to juggle everything, because my fiancé handles the Family schedule like a boss. If there’s a family event, a game, a birthday, or an emergency, I’m there. No question.
But there are moments when I think, “I should drop something.”
The biggest one? My website.
I loved it. I loved building it, learning everything about it, tweaking it until 4:00 a.m. for no reason at all. But at a certain point, I had to realize it wasn’t productive for me to keep messing with it myself. That’s when I knew I had to delegate and focus on what actually moves the needle. Shoutout to Wehrenberg Desing Company for making everything look great. Check them out if you’re interested in your own website.
The Gaming Side: When Real Life Clashes with Ranked Play
Do you know when the kids need me the most?
The exact moment I start a ranked match in Black Ops 6.
I can play three regular matches completely uninterrupted, but the moment I start to play well in Ranked?
Emergency
“Chan, I need water.”
“Chan, the dog is stuck.”
“Chan, I lost my sock.”
“Chan, I’m bleeding.” (Okay, fair. I’ll pause for that one.)
And BOOM, I lose 5 billion SR points. Never Fails.
If I’m going to lose SR points because the dog’s stuck, I might as well be comfortable in my GTRacing Chair and ready with my SteelSeries Keyboard.
The Funniest Gamer Dad Moments
The Time I Proved the Kid Right (On Accident)
So my fiancé was teaching our middle child not to get mad at video games.
She’s explaining that you don’t need to scream or get upset, it’s just a game.
And at that exact moment, with my headphones on, I scream:
“Oh my God!!!!”
I take my headphones off.
I see both of them staring at me
I hear, “Chan, it’s GOSH.” from the youngest
…I then heard a 5-minute lecture from my middle child on why I was a hypocrite. Or in his words “Not fair!”.
Teaching my toddler to game was hilarious. Astro Bot is a perfect starter game, and the AirPods I use help dampen the chaos.
The Time the Toddler Became a Pro Gamer
Our 3-year-old Tucker was playing Astro Bot for the first time. He didn’t know how to walk or jump or really do anything. After watching him struggle for a while, I needed to figure out a way to teach him without taking over.
So I came up with a little training song for him.
“walk, jump, stop”
It was simple. And it worked.
For the next week, I’d catch him randomly walking around the house just chanting
“walk, jump, stop”
It was the first time I remember learning how I could teach him how to play games without having to take the controller or explain too much. Because there is no right way to play video games, but I also don’t want it to be so difficult for him that he doesn’t want to play.
The Reality of “Balance” and What I’ve Learned
Here’s the truth
- You can balance your hobbies with business and family, but you have to be intentional about it.
- Balance isn’t about having the perfect schedule; it’s about knowing what matters.
- You have to be willing to forgive yourself. No one has this all figured out.
- The best way to juggle it all? Have a strong support system and clear priorities.
At the end of the day, this isn’t about gaming or business or parenting, it’s about building a life that works for YOU.
My Reset & Rewire Roadmap has been a game changer for making structure work across all areas of life.
And if you ever figure out how to pause an online game, let me know.
