How Your Relationships Affect Your Work

It seems simple. The relationships we keep can help determine our success with our work.

If we surround ourselves with negative people, odds are that we’ll eventually become negative.

If we let the positive people in, it’s inevitable they’ll rub off on us. Even if it’s just a little bit.

It is up to us to determine who we let in to influence our behavior. And when we make the right choices, we often have the support we need to do great things with our work.

Intimate Relationships

When it comes to relationships, they can be draining or they can be replenishing.

A great spouse will encourage you to do what is best and you’ll get through hardships together. They will be positive, they will lift your spirits, they will be proud of you, and they will be excited with you.

They will ask you the hard questions and won’t let you get away with compromising yourself or your work. These are especially true when you are freelancing on your own or you have a small business since so much of the family’s success is tied to the success of the business.

On the other hand, a toxic relationship will deplete you. A spouse can be jealous of your accomplishments, uninterested in your excitement, or focus solely on the money and not on your happiness.

A good personal relationship won’t fix a bad job, but it can make it more bare-able when times get tough or when change is inevitable.

A great spouse will tell you to do what’s right for you, no matter the consequences to them. They will be a sounding board, a BS detector, and in other times your voice of reason.

No matter the type of relationship you have, don’t turn your partner into your metaphorical (heaven forbid literal) punching bag. When a good spouse says, “tell me what’s on your mind” that’s not a license to blow up. It’s an offer to help talk through what’s on your mind.

Talking through issues with them is much different than releasing frustration on them.

Platonic Relationships

I’m a guy and I know that men need fellowship. For some it’s long fishing weekends. For others it’s time at the gym. Friendships are important!

Whatever it is that you do together, it should be a fulfilling experience. If your friends drain you, you should start looking for new ones.

I am as loyal of a friend as there is. But some people will drain you of all energy, time, passion, fun, and sometimes money. Recognize this before it’s too late so you can focus on the people that truly care about you.

The way you have good friends is to be a good friend. And the people that will value your friendship are not the ones that you need to chase down just to hang out.

Just like loving relationships, the best friends will keep you honest. They will not let you get away with compromising yourself and your values.

Those draining ones though? They’re the ones that don’t care about your problems or successes. It’s all about them. On the flip side of this, you should be genuinely interested in them as well.

A good friend is someone that will tell you what you need to hear and not always what you want to hear.

Not all relationships are easy, especially the ones that are worth it. So when you have positive people in your life, don’t let them go.

Consequences

When we have the negativity out of our lives, we are able to focus on the work we’re supposed to be doing.

If all you can think about is why your spouse is upset with you, how do you expect to focus on work?

If you have pressure from the office AND pressure from home, where do you get a break?

Life has ups and downs, the people we choose to be around should be the ones that breathe life back into us when we are drained from the work we put out.

Have you ever been on Cloud 9 after a date and someone at work asks, “What are you so happy about?” (like you’re not supposed to be happy).

It’s a great feeling, isn’t it? Now what if that happened every day? Imagine the amount of work that you could do with that sort of positive energy.

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What are you thoughts on how your relationships affect your work?

I look forward to hearing from you below or on Twitter (@mikemccann3), have a great day!

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