By: O.L./ Sway Buckley
Getting (and staying) on the same page in a marriage is challenging, but adding a business to the equation requires another level of intentionality.
Before my husband left the banking industry, we had a rhythm down. We were clear about who did what and worked to meet those expectations.
But it all changed when we were BOTH working for ourselves. We had to re-evaluate who we were as a couple.
Internally, I just wanted us to be in a flow where we could support each other without feeling burned out. Something had to change for us to get on the same page.
The issue was that since things were different, we were forcing our identity as a couple to be shaped by the surrounding pressures vs. stopping to access and work on ourselves.
There were so many different areas that we needed clarity on, but it seemed as if the world was going at such a lightning-fast rate that we couldn't afford to stop even if it was to get a hold of it.
The issue was we couldn't afford NOT to stop!
We HAD to do something different.
We couldn't sustain the same pace and remain there for the next 3-5 years.
We started dissecting our biggest issues first and had genuine conversations around these areas.
The conversations included:
- Merging our marriage and business vision
- How we best communicate with each other and acknowledge our pet peeves was clarifying. We'll be talking about this more this month.
- Leaning into what we're good already good at (in THIS season). This helped us appreciate each other on a deeper level.
- Implementing strategic 'wealth roles' that supported our vision
- Working through syncing our schedules around our REAL priorities was the final area, and it has been life-changing.
Once these discussions started realized how different some of our goals were. We discovered that we didn't always reach a dream the same way.
Initially, it was frustrating.
We vowed to keep speaking through the frustrations, though.
Little by little, we started to see the light more clearly.
Every time we managed to get a glimpse of understanding, we grabbed onto it for dear life.
Today we're seeing the light more frequently.
Most of our time is spent in the light as we still work through dark moments.
The main thing is that we've seen too much transformation to believe that these conversations don't work.
They do.
Although our goals have changed over the years, we've seen how prioritizing our goals together actually helped us focus on our individual goals. This continues to be the foundation of how we get (and stay) on the same page even when we disagree.
We decided to make these conversation starters available to other married entrepreneurs too. You can find them on our Maarriedpreneur Life site.
Our excitement now is seeing other marriages transformed by simply sharing our journey through transparency and authenticity.
If you're seeking a simple path to include these points in your next conversation, download our free checklist here.