6 Keys to Growing Your Business AND Your Marriage

/in /by

Brian and VictoriaAs I talk with clients, friends and family members who are business owners, there is one struggle that I hear often.  How do you balance the demands of work and family.  We all face this.  We are passionate about our businesses and we love our families.  Both our businesses and our families make demands of us.  These competing demands often strain our most valuable earthly relationship, our marriage.
I have a confession to make.  In this post I am not really going to talk about growing your business.  I have written plenty of posts about that.  Today I am writing about marriage.

[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”@brianmininger” suffix=””]You can have all the business success in the world, but if your marriage is falling a part at home, it will feel very empty.[/inlinetweet]

So how do we have a healthy balance?  How do we grow not only our business, but our marriage too?  In this post I am going to share with you some of the things that have helped me grow a business and have a great marriage.

6 Keys to Growing a Business AND Your Marriage

  • Create a Work Schedule With Your Spouse – Years ago Victoria and I figured out that most of the struggle about how much I worked, came from differing expectations.  Therefore, we created a practice of coming up with my work schedule together.  Then if I needed to work outside of those hours, I consulted with her before I made any commitments.
  • Invest Time and Money in Both Your Business and Your Marriage – You invest lots of time and money to grow your business.  Make sure you are doing the same thing for your marriage.  Go out on dates, take time away together, read a marriage book, attend a marriage conference, or get some counseling.  If your marriage is not growing, it will be dying.  As soon as you stop investing in your marriage, it begins to die.
  • Communicate With Your Spouse About Your Business – Talk with your spouse about what is happening in your business and how it is affecting you.  Your business is a significant area of your life.  If you don’t talk about it with your spouse, you are missing out on living that part of life together.
  • Involve Your Spouse in the Business – When your business is successful, it benefits your family.  View the business as a team effort.  Even if your spouse does not work for the business, there are many small ways that they can be involved and contribute.  Make sure you give that opportunity.
  • Be All In – Practice being fully engaged with whatever you are doing at the moment.  When you are working on your business, give it your best. When you are on a date with your wife, give her your best.  Turn off the cell phone and focus on your spouse.  Many times with struggle in our marriage, because we are so distracted that we never fully engage.
  • REMEMBER – Your Business is to Serve Your Life and Family Not the Other Way Around – This is the key.  Keep your priorities in line.  If your life and family are existing to serve your business, then it is time to make a change.  Take a step back, examine what is really important and set some boundaries.

Having a great marriage takes courage, intentional investment and hard work, but the rewards are great.  Start by taking a small step.  Discuss these keys with your spouse and see what he/she has to say.  You will learn and lot and be well on your way to growing your business and having a great marriage.

What things have your learned about growing a business and having a great marriage?

Share your thoughts in the comments

 
-Brian