How Your Relationships Impact Your Success

Is your path to success clogged or clear?  The answer depends largely on the quality of your relationships.  Relationships impact every arena of our lives. If we want to succeed in this world, we must be able to create good and lasting relationships.

We all desire great personal relationships. Good friendships, a deep and committed love, great bonds with our kids and family. We want these, we even try to work at these, but they are not always fulfilling, satisfying or going well. Unfortunately, we often settle for average or try to muscle through with lousy or tension filled relationships.

Far too often, our relationships clog the way ahead, slow us down, distract and deter us from ultimate success in business.  Conversely, relationships that are going well can clear the way for progress, innovation and productivity!  Personal relationships impact every area of our lives, even when we try to compartmentalize.

[Tweet “Relationships that are going well can clear the way for progress, innovation and productivity! “]

Are you aware of how deeply your personal relationships impact your success in business? Remember a time when personal relationship stress weighed heavily on you and negatively impacted your mood, attitude and energy at work?

Like a carrying a bag of trash  behind you, or doing stairs while wearing ankle weights, the drag of difficult personal relationships weighs us down. Distracted,  unable to focus and maybe even irritable with our coworkers. we aren’t operating at our best.

When our personal relationships are difficult, tension filled, or down right awful, we carry the emotions they trigger with us, and they impact our productivity, efficiency and ultimately our profitability.

Imagine yourself in a boat traveling through a canal through a series of locks. Each time you enter one, the gate closes behind you, the water floods the lock and you have enough flow to move forward to the next one.

It is a slow process, filled with stops and starts. Each lock is an individual entity unto itself. Difficult, mediocre and tension filled relationships are like this.

They block off the flow of creativity, synergy and make it hard to gain any momentum in our lives or businesses.

Creativity is essential for entrepreneurs and successful business people and relationship stress can block creativity. When our personal relationships are enjoyable and satisfying, we are more productive, profitable and effective at our work.

Picture instead riding in a speed boat traveling through the water with no breaks, gates, barriers… the flow of water, the rush of wind and the thrill of everything clicking and working together.

Great relationships are like a speed boat. Flow, synergy and momentum flood your life and work, creating energy and promoting movement forward.

Working to create positive and enjoyable relationships is crucial to success in business and in life.

One success tip for creating good relationships is to set aside time to discuss the impact your business life, entrepreneurial dreams and work commitments have on your spouse and family.

[Tweet “One  tip for improving relationships is  to discuss the impact your business/entrepreneurial life  has on your spouse and family. “]

Ask the question, and then Just Listen!  Resist the temptation to explain, justify, or clarify – especially when they say “you always or you never.”  The key is create space for your loved ones to freely express their thoughts and feeling – no evaluating, editing or explaining from you!

You ONLY job:  Listen, nod and say, “Thank you for sharing.”

Then take some time and think about what they shared, and how you would make a case for their thoughts, feelings and perceptions – a bit like walking a mile in their shoes to gain understanding.

Try it and let me know what happens!

Relationships aren’t easy, but they are worth the time, investment, humility and growth to create satisfying ones!

• What challenges are you facing in your personal relationships that spill over into your work? 
• What interactions with your co workers prove to be difficult or a deterrent to the success of your business?
• What have you tried to improve these interactions and relationships?

Your answers to these three questions will help me know what issues YOU are dealing with as entrepreneurs and business executives, so I can tailor my upcoming companion booklet to Listen, Learn, Love:  How to Dramatically Improve Your Relationships in 30 Days or Less  specifically designed to address workplace, business and entrepreneurial relationship challenges.