Mix Business and Personal

Michael Scott, the bumbling Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, played by Steve Carell in the hit TV show ‘The Office’ said it best, “Business is always personal. It’s the most personal thing in the world.” Of course, this was meant to be funny because conventional wisdom says to separate ‘business’ and ‘personal.’ But every entrepreneur knows that Michael Scott is speaking the truth.

As a small business owner, your company is everything to you. You are the business, and the business is you.

In your mind there are no lines between your business and your personal life; your spouse and children. It’s all packaged together. When you try to separate the inseparable, you’re just going against the grain or swimming upstream. That’s why you need to lean into it, not fight against it. But how?

By honoring your marriage before your business.

Think about this: your home life is where your day begins and ends. It’s where your week begins and ends. It is the primary influencing factor on your work performance. If your personal relationships at home are good, especially with your spouse, then running your business becomes much easier! But if relationships at home are not going well, your business will surely suffer.

Here’s a few practical ways putting your spouse first will help your business and career.

• Someone to rely on

• Leadership is a lonely place. Leading a company can be emotionally difficult. Let your spouse be someone with a listening ear who can sympathize.

• Motivation

• Honoring your marriage motivates you to greater levels of success so that you can provide for them.

• Selflessness

• Putting your marriage first forces you into an ‘others first’ mindset. This will trickle down into employee satisfaction.

Take care of first things first. Honor your marriage first before anything else. Don’t see it as a burden that’s holding you back, but as a foundation for your success.