Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Success Lessons From 2014 - Part 12 - Accept Your Partner


Dear loving people,

It’s been a month-long cruise to the last part of the lessons I learned in 2014 and of course I saved the best for the last. 

In the quest for success and happiness, partnership is everything. Napoleon Hill talks of the Mastermind principle and says that his best mastermind partner is his spouse. Who wouldn't love a partner willing to take on extra chores and errands? It turns out that a conscientious spouse isn't just good for household management and harmony, but for one's success at work, too, according to research out of Washington University. While one's own personality obviously plays a major role, one's spouse's personality also factors in significantly, especially if that spouse is conscientious, reports Scientific American

There's much we can do to improve our relationships with our partners by working alone on ourselves. We can change our distorted beliefs, become more self-accepting, re-pattern our behavior, learn to accept our partners better, improve the atmosphere of our home, learn assertiveness, and learn to integrate emotions. Making these kinds of changes on our own can have a profound and positive impact on ourselves, on our relationships, and our partners.

Get it now! Don’t make assumptions, don’t take things personally. Just following this one bit of wisdom can save you a lot of heartache and trouble; not just in your marriage, but also in every aspect of you life. We have a tendency to think that everything is about us. We have this thing called personal importance. The truth is, everything is not about us. Everything anyone else does is really about them, that’s including your partner. I know, hard to believe, but true. If we take things personally when our partner acts not so wonderfully, we’re likely to feel unloved. We think it’s about us, when it’s really something they’re personally dealing with. That doesn’t mean we don’t call them out when they’re acting a fool. We just don’t make it about us. Get the point?

It’s also important to not make assumptions. How many times have you felt hurt because you thought your partner should have known something? Most of the time I am upset at my wife (for some reason or another) it’s because I assumed that she automatically knew something. Then I’m upset at her because I thought she should trust me enough to know what I am capable of. Then she’s upset at me because she thinks that there’s no reason I should be upset at her, when I’m the one that did something wrong in the first place. See the pointless cycle this creates?

All of this confusion can be avoided if we simply don’t make assumptions and don’t take things personally. Instead of making assumptions we can ask for what we want. It seems so simple, right? If you don’t ask for what you want, how do you expect to get it? As blindingly obvious as this is, it has taken me quite a while to get this.

Dr Phil says “The need for acceptance is so profound that I would venture to say that most, if not all, issues that cause conflict in a relationship ultimately come down to one or both partners feeling rejected—and, in turn, wanting to feel more accepted.”

I hope you’ve enjoyed the series, remain blessed.

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