Same Team

The Simple Newsletter - Issue # 088

---

Adam’s Thoughts

This is a tough one.

It’s a conversation that has come up more than once at our CEO Mastermind dinners.

A business owner is deeply passionate about what he’s building.

He’s working long hours.

He’s thinking about the business when he’s sitting in the living room.

He’s thinking about opportunities while he’s on the beach.

He’s at a barbecue, but his mind isn’t really on the game, somebody’s retirement plan, or the kids’ soccer schedule.

It’s on the business.

The problems.

The opportunities.

What needs to get done tomorrow.

What just went incredibly well.

And at home, that can create tension.

His wife wants more of him.

More presence.

More time.

More attention.

And from his perspective, he isn’t trying to take something away from the family.

He believes he’s building something for the family.

He’s trying to provide.

He’s trying to create security.

He’s trying to build a life that gives everyone more freedom.

But the intention doesn’t always change how the absence feels to the person on the other side.

And eventually, the business owner can stop talking about it altogether.

Why bring up the business if it creates frustration?

Why explain what you’re thinking about if the other person doesn’t want to hear it?

And now two people who love each other can slowly begin living in two very different worlds.

That’s a difficult crossroads.

And I’ve watched a lot of business owners arrive there.

---

Adam’s Lessons

The ones who seem to work through it best do something that sounds strange at first.

They renegotiate the marriage contract.

Not the legal one.

The understanding.

They sit down and say:

I’ve changed.

This business has changed me.

This is what I need right now.

This is what I’m trying to build.

This is what it can create for our family.

And this is what I still need to give back to you.

Because relationships evolve.

The agreement that worked when you got married may not perfectly fit the people you’ve both become ten or twenty years later.

For some couples, one person was already an entrepreneur when they met.

For others, entrepreneurship showed up years into the marriage.

Either way, the rules changed.

And pretending they didn’t doesn’t make the problem disappear.

Sometimes those conversations go incredibly well.

Sometimes they’re hard as hell.

Sometimes they expose things neither person wanted to admit.

But they’re still better than quietly building resentment.

Because your business life and your home life are not separate.

Confidence at home affects how you show up at work.

Confidence at work affects how you show up at home.

Everything is connected.

And sometimes becoming the CEO of your business also means having the courage to become more intentional about the partnership you have at home.

---

So here’s my question for you this week:

Have you and your spouse ever intentionally talked about how your business has changed you... and what each of you needs from the relationship now?

Reply and tell me. While I can’t respond to every message, Tom and I read every reply, and we genuinely appreciate hearing from you.

That’s all for this week.

See you next Saturday.