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I definitely must have done something right in my previous life.
Because I’m a very, very, very lucky man.
Unfortunately, I’ve also had some bad luck. The past few years have been tough. I’ve made mistakes in my businesses. I’ve lost money to a pyramid scheme. I’ve lost money with financial investors. More than I’d like to admit.
Despite all that, I still consider myself really lucky.
I’m a time management expert, and most of the time I share tactics and tips with entrepreneurs to help them get the most out of their time. However, sometimes, the best advice I can give anyone is to find ways to make their partners happy.
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I’m sure some of you out there reading this are very lucky people as well. Why? Because we met the person of our dreams and thankfully, for some reason, they liked us back.
I really hit the jackpot with my wife. She was (and is) beautiful, intelligent, confident, talkative, funny, strong, hard-working and an amazing cook. She’s also an amazing mother. Now that may sound like I’m bragging a little bit, but if you met her, I think you’d agree with me that she’s a real catch.
But possibly the best thing about her is she has made me a better person.
If you asked her, she’ll tell you it wasn’t easy. It took time (10 years or thereabouts), a ton of effort and a heck of a lot of patience.
Somehow, she succeeded. She took me, a hoodie-wearing 26-year-old guy in cheap jeans, and molded me, little by little into the man I am today.
Back then, I could have cared less about what people thought about my clothes. I got dressed up for those special occasions, but that was about it.
My wife made me see things differently.
Like it or not, people judge one another. It’s just part of our make-up. The minute we meet someone, we scan each other looking for clues as to who they are. This is all done automatically. Our clothes, our body, our teeth, even our fingernails are absorbed, analyzed and categorized by our brain.
The clothes we choose to wear say something to other people and my wife wants people to look at me and go, “Wow, what a catch.” Not, “What a slob!”
Men are the same, they want their partners to look good. Yet somehow many men play the “I-don’t-care-what-people-think” card when our partners ask us to look nice and get some stylish clothes. What we are forgetting is our appearance and actions reflect upon them.
Hoodie by hoodie, tacky shirt by tacky shirt, my wife succeeded in completely changing my wardrobe without me even noticing. (I think she’s part ninja).
“People overestimate what they can do it a year and underestimate what they can do in ten” Bill Gates
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10 years might seem like a lot of time, but as Bill Gates says, “People overestimate what they can do it a year and underestimate what they can do in ten.”
Men – Wake up! While we may love our baggy jeans and 7-year-old sweaters that are hanging on by a threat, our partners don’t. They deserve better. Whether you want to or not, we should take pride in our appearance.
I’m a time management expert, and most of the time I share tactics and tips with entrepreneurs to help them get the most out of their time. However, sometimes, the best advice I can give anyone is to find ways to make their partners happy. Unhappy couples fight and fighting can be draining, both mentally and physically. By making your loved ones happy, you’ll fight a whole lot less which translates into a lot less stress. The less stress, the more time you’ll have to get the stuff done you want.
And in this case, you’ll look good doing it.
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Photo by Joe Diaz
Nice ideas, Adrian. I’m lucky in the same way.