In life you meet certain people who become an integral part of your existence. Someone who shares pretty much everything about you, and who gets to know you in ways you never knew yourself.
They come with an outside perspective of you, they see and experience the things you do, say, like or dislike from a different angle than you would experiencing it yourself. That person for me, is my wife.
She’s known me forever, and takes me just the way I am. I know she loves and respects me unconditionally.
Thus, my wife loves to give me advice. She is very opinionated (bless her) and will often point out when she thinks something is a bad idea or provide me with alternative ways to handle certain situations within my business.
This used to really annoy me. I thought she was being a smart ass and was trying to tell me what to do.
And being a slightly stubborn and proud person, ok…ok… a very stubborn and proud person, I never listened to her.
I utterly ignored her opinions and advice and regarded them as irrelevant, because I was arrogant. I wanted to be in control of everything, and I paid the price. Dearly!
Among many incidents, there was one significant one, where I decided to go into partnership with a person (who happened to have a lot of money and experience) I thought I could learn from would elevate my business to levels I couldn’t achieve myself.
I eagerly signed agreements and contracts and allowed this partner to make changes to my business structure and access finances, without considering the possible consequences.
My wife warned me from the beginning that it was a bad idea and that this person was going to do me in.
She told me that if I was going to go against her better judgment and go into partnership with him, to not give 50% stake away, and just do a small amount like 10 or 20% but I wouldn’t listen, I knew better, I gave him a 50% stake in my business.
At the end of the day, I almost lost everything. This person who was supposed to have this wealth of knowledge and experience, did me in so badly through a string of terrible deals, laziness and poor business decisions, that I almost went under.
I had to stand up out of the dust and almost start over completely.
Now, I will say that this is not the only occasion where my wife gave me excellent advice that I chose to ignore.
And like I said before, I am not talking about listening to my wife because I’m being told what to do, or I’m being put in my place or that she is nagging me.
No, I’m talking about receiving (what I wouldn’t recognize at the time) valuable input from someone whose opinion I actually value.
Someone who shares the same values, moral compass, and who ultimately wants the best for me, and therefore wants to make sure that I make the best possible choices for myself and of course my business.
Long story short, I realized that my wife was much smarter than I gave her credit for.
And just because she didn’t work in the same industry I did, that she had some very viable and intelligent opinions, and her significant experience in other industries turned out to be very relevant to me and my business.
This experience made me realize that I chose my wife for a multitude of imperative reasons.
I didn’t just choose her because she is super-hot eye candy (btw), I chose to share my life with her because she added value to me. She is a force to be reckoned with. She compliments me and is equally yoked (maybe slightly more yoked) to me spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, and financially. Ultimately, I respect her.
And that is the moment I decided to respect her opinions and advice too. And let me tell you, it has paid off abundantly.
My company is in a better financial state, my team is happier, and my clients more satisfied, all because I started listening to my wife and implementing her advice into my life and my business.
One thing I’ll say about Respect that every married couple and really anyone in any relationship should know, is that it’s more important than love.
If your partner respects you, they won’t do anything to disappoint you and they will make your struggle their struggle.
They will listen to really hear and give the finest advice for the best outcomes, and to secure your success and that of your business, they won’t listen to merely provide and empty response.
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