In This Issue
- Two Minds Tip: Being With Your Partner 24/7
- Feature Article: Success Tip from Anders Sorman-Nilsson
- What Else Is On?: Successful Business Couples Secrets 1-Day Workshop
Hi everyone!
We've been having a wonderful time in the last couple of week's celebrating our birthdays (Henry's 2 weeks ago and Marissa's this week) with family and friends.
We're so grateful, not just for the good food, presents and birthday wishes, but also for the reminder of one of the most important things in life - the love of family and friends.
In this week's edition, we share with you some of our thoughts on being with your partner 24/7. Anders Sorman-Nilsson also gives us some great tips on communication.
And last but not least, check out the details of our upcoming Successful Business Couples Secrets 1-Day workshop. We promise it will be well worth your while.
Enjoy!
Henry and Marissa
Two Minds Tip
Being With Your Partner 24/7
In the last few weeks, we have been catching up with some friends or been having meetings with clients who are couples thinking of going into business together.
Inevitably, the conversation turns to how Henry and I handle being in each other’s company for almost 24 hours a day, 7 days a week as husband and wife and as business partners.
Well, it's not something that just "happens" easily for us. Like anything that's worthwhile, it takes a lot of love, work and commitment.
Of course, everything has its benefits and drawbacks. But for this week, we thought we'd share with you some of the benefits we find on being a couple in business and some exercises you may find useful. It's an extract from our e-book “How To Grow Rich Together: The Couples Guide To A Lucrative Business”.
Family Unity
When your spouse is also your business partner, the substantial amount of time spent together working for a common purpose often builds unity between you. As business partners, you’ll learn to protect each other more from external forces that sometimes drain energy and enthusiasm.
For example, few non-family partners will take steps to bring order to an overwhelming schedule or commitment load. Few outsiders will pick up each other’s slack unasked. There’s a new level of bonding possible when couples forge business unions.
No one else could share your concerns about what’s going on with your venture like a partner who’s also invested in its success. In fact, a partner who isn’t involved in your business can easily become frustrated with hearing so much about it.
No one else will understand the sheer joy of each success the way a spouse who’s your business partner will. The victories are multiplied by two. Who else could know so intimately what’s kept you sleepless at night? Who better than your life partner will appreciate how much every little business victory really means?
If you have children, both business partners are parents who understand the time and energy challenges of parenting. Because you and your partner happen to care about the well-being of the very same child or children, it’s actually easier to reach agreement about the needs of your little ones. You can often even start spending an equal amount of time with the children, which enhances family relationships.
Exercise
As a couple in business, make sure you establish in advance (and along the way) rules and boundaries which build not only your business, but also your personal relationship. Hash out as many issues as you can – on both fronts -- before you commit.
Both of you should grab pen and paper and write out your answers to these questions, and later review your answers together:
- What does success look like? Describe success in terms of how the family and business are running.
- What does failure look like? Describe failure in terms of how the family and business are running.
- What are you willing to sacrifice, and what would be non-negotiable?
- If you have children, what are your current responsibilities for raising them and how should those roles change or be tweaked once a business venture is launched?
- What are your measurable goals for the business? (E.g., how much income monthly, how many employees, etc.)
- Imagine this business venture is your new child. List 5 key business principles or rules to operate by which you feel will best prepare the child for success in the real world.
Remember, this is about the meeting of your hearts and minds so listen to each other, talk about your answers, share your dreams and fears and work together towards your aligned vision.
Live your dreams!
©2009 Henry Chow and Marissa Carlos
Feature Article
Success Tip from Anders Sorman-Nilsson
Anders founded Thinque in 2005 after many years of study and channelling his energy into focussing on how to increase the success of others. He is now an international award-winning speaker and a regular magazine contributor.
What do you believe is the first thing people need to do to begin living their dreams?
People need to understand that the results in each area of their lives are the result of two factors.
1. How they communicate with themselves - that is, their internal communication. This consists of things such as goal-setting, congruent and empowering beliefs, powerful motivation strategies, confidence and focus.
2. How they communicate with their external world - master communicators realise that to be successful in any endeavour you need to have the ability to win the hearts and minds of people. Whether you are Gandhi, a school captain, a young professional, the managing director of a BRW Fast 100 company or an ASX 100 CEO, we all need to connect with people across different communication divides in order to be successful.
So the first thing people need to do to begin living their dreams is to learn to develop their internal and external communication skills. Once this realisation has been awakened there is no stopping a person from living their dreams.
Members of Success Uncovered Club Platinum Program enjoy weekly e-coaching from Henry and Marissa as well as unlimited access to over 550 success materials from some of the world's most successful people like Anders. To access them yourself, join our $1 Trial now.