In business and in love, the key to a strong relationship is this:
Connect.
You can connect with your partner in many ways – I’m sure you’ve heard of Gary Chapman’s The 5 Love Languages (if you haven’t, it’s a game changer for a lot of people).
Of course it’s important to know how your partner feels and expresses love (possibly using one of what Gary Chapman refers to as The Five Love Languages).
Even though we might speak different love languages, among all of us, the foundation of a strong relationship – in love AND business – is about an EMOTIONAL connection.
Love is an emotional bond, one that is built on trust, reliability, care and support.
Love is about knowing that your partner will be there for you.
A good business will be there for you too.
I’m not one of those die hard Starbuck’s people, but being in the middle of nowhere U.S.A. once driving across the country, and seeing one of these cafes with those classic Starbuck’s lights hanging down from the ceiling, cool air conditioned inside and delicious familiar Starbucks smell of espresso brought me a strange comfort that I never would have predicted walking by one every three blocks in NYC just a month prior.
Build a business like Starbucks that is reliable and trustworthy and that won’t betray you even when you’re in the middle of nowhere feeling a million miles away from everything, and you’ve got something right. You can even charge $5 for a cup of coffee and I’ll gladly pay it when I have no other sense of familiarity anywhere around me.
Create your relationship with that same reliability and trust that you use to create your brand.
Build a relationship based on trust, reliability and support – knowing that your partner will be there for you even when you’re feeling hopelessly lost – and showing up for your partner following through on what you say you’ll do, reliably and dependably, and you’ve got the foundation for a strong love as well.
Trust.
Support.
Care.
Concern.
There are lots of parallels between your biz and your love.
Just be sure not to put all your emotional eggs in the basket of your business.
If you do, your relationship will suffer.
But when you show up for each other, consistently, and connect – in a real way – then you’ve got a foundation for love that will carry you through lean times in biz, and tough times in love.
What do you need to truly connect?
Emotional awareness:
You’ve got to be fully open and accepting of yourself and your need to connect (yes, we all NEED to connect) so that you can be aware and clear about what your emotions are.
In other words, you need to be emotionally clear and honest.
Emotional risks:
You’ve got to feel safe enough to put yourself out there. Vulnerability. It’s important in love and in business so that your clients and your lover can see where you’re at. Vulnerability breeds connection. People can see you when you’re vulnerable.
Your partner needs to see you too, more than anyone else.
Time and presence:
You’ve got to be in the moment. You’ve got to spend time with your partner and when you’re together, you actually need to be there.
In the book The Prosperous Coach the author Steve Chandler writes about having only one client: The one he is talking to.
Same thing is true in love. Not that you have so many different lovers, but it can be easy to let your partner slip to the bottom of your list if you take him or her for granted, as so many make the mistake of doing.
When you’re together, act like you did when you first met: Like you’re the luckiest two people in the world because you’ve found each other and you’re the only ones that matter in the moment.
It’s really quite simple.
Easy? Not necessarily, particularly if you’e built up walls of defenses over the years or are like many of us who are susceptible to the millions of distractions all around us and have a hard time being present in the moment.
There’s nothing more important to learn.
A strong relationship helps you live longer, and enhances your health and happiness along the way. Further, creating a solid relationship can be like striking gold in your business.
Need help?
Look no further.
I’ve created a special program just for you, the entrepreneur, to learn once and for all to make love work.
And let me know if you have any questions.
I’d love to be your relationship coach to help you finally learn the secrets to make love work.
Cheers to thriving in business & love,
Leave a Reply