Can You Have it All?

Justin Timberlake

“I believe that being successful means having a balance of success stories across the many areas of your life. You can’t truly be considered successful in your business life if your home life is in shambles.”

– Zig Ziglar

Why did I choose to start this weeks’ post with a quote by Zig Ziglar? It goes back almost twenty years ago as I started to work at my first newspaper.  Though inexperienced I inherited some longtime clients who did not have too much patience for me to learn on the go. One client suggested that I read a book by Zig Ziglar entitled See You at the Top.

As I started to read the book my job proficiency grew immediately. I enjoyed the book and author because his advice was not all centered on making money and success at one thing. His message was that to be truly successful, one must succeed in all areas of life. Of course, things have changed greatly over twenty years. Most persons I know (myself included) are not just performing one function, but we all are juggling several jobs or roles within a single organization, or performing services for various companies.  The entertainment industry is no different today with artists using various avenues for successful promotion of material. Even though I could use any musician as an example, this week I chose Justin Timberlake.

Interestingly, when you look up Timberlake on Wikipedia, it lists him as American actor, businessman and singer/songwriter. Amazingly Justin Timberlake, even after a very successful run in boy band N’Sync, and solo career with two albums and worldwide tours, he is listed first as an actor. However, Justin Timberlake has found just as much success in Hollywood in films such as The Social Network, Bad Teacher, Friends With Benefits and In Time just to list a few. Timberlake released his third studio album The 20/20 Experience (1 or 2) on March 19, 2013, with (2 of 2) scheduled for release September 20, 2013.  Timberlake also recently took on the title of husband as he married actress Jessica Biel on October 19, 2012. This seems like success across the many areas of his life.

After looking into the career of Justin Timberlake I was reminded of the Weekly Music Commentary feature of rap artist Eve two weeks ago. She just released her first solo album in over ten years, but she was still busy musically during the hiatus. Timberlake is similar because this is his first album since 2006, but he has hardly been away from music for almost seven years. He has been busy working as songwriter, producer and sometimes performing with artists such as Madonna, T.I., Ciara, Timbaland, Jamie Foxx and more. What I find of interest is that Justin Timberlake was working on all this music at the same time as many of the movie roles. I don’t really know all that is involved in filming major motion pictures but I do know that it takes time – and long days. I am very familiar with the process of producing recorded music and that definitely is time intensive.

Timberlake seems to be successfully doing it all, and he appears to be a happy person. When I learned he is an avid golfer I was reminded about a guy I worked with previously who everyone spoke about having the perfect life. Of course no one can have the perfect life no matter how it may seem, including Justin Timberlake. JT has experienced a few hiccups along the way, mostly in his personal life before settling down in marriage. Also, who can forget the famous wardrobe malfunction at the Super Bowl in 2004 with Janet Jackson? It was a tough time for both entertainers but they have survived, grown personally and musically, and moved on.  That’s what life is all about. Most likely Justin Timberlake will slow down a bit as he grows older. It will be interesting to see which part of his career takes first place. For now, Justin Timberlake appears to have it all.