Relationship and Career Satisfaction

     Relationships and career satisfaction are deeply connected, though experts do not always agree on how. I describe relationship satisfaction as an expression of welcome or presence that your spouse, fiancé, or significant other occupies in your thoughts and emotions. For example, when you are overwhelmed but feel confident that your spouse will embrace what you are feeling without judgment, or when you confess to making an impulsive purchase knowing that your spouse will be disappointed but will not shame or reject you over a mistake.

     My experience with couples over the last fifteen years confirms that scoring at least 55% on their LIMRI Friendship Assessment and 64% on their Shared Values Assessment correlates with relationship satisfaction in dating, engaged, married, and parenting relationships. Friendship and shared values promote contentment. However, contentment is not passive; it includes challenge, risk-taking, flexibility, and structure.

     The key to a vibrant relationship is ensuring that challenge, risk-taking, and flexibility do not threaten the need for structure and security. The two questions - What do you want to be different about...? and How can I make it better for you? - allow couples to identify unreasonable expectations or observations that lead to judgments that push them apart rather than toward each other.

     One of the significant differences between careers and relationships is the regular and mandatory compliance training in the workplace. Too often, couples wait until their marriage reaches a crisis point before seeking the support and resources that could empower and enrich their relationship. Enrichment is like compliance training for setting healthy boundaries and reasonable expectations. Corporations understand that compliance training needs to happen before a crisis occurs in the workplace.

     Compliance training reduces the potential for lawsuits and production losses. Couples can learn from the business world how to proactively respond to conflicts that erode trust to the point of divorce or separation. These exercises compare appropriate and inappropriate attitudes, behaviors, and ethical standards that corporations monitor in the workplace.

     While relationship satisfaction is an asset to a spouse's career, successful careers are not always an indicator of a healthy marriage. A struggling career has greater potential to create disharmony in personal relationships. In many ways, corporations and small businesses are legally responsible for upholding higher ethical and moral standards than what is typically expected in marriage relationships. An HR team is responsible for educating employees and supervisors on legal, ethical, and moral expectations in the workplace. In addition, compliance training identifies what you can and cannot do in the workplace.

     Life In Motion Relationship Resources offers a Friendship and Shared Values Assessment that guides couples toward health and healing. The assessment measures relationship satisfaction in dating, engaged, married, and parenting relationships. You can access these resources at no cost as a gift from Creekside Christian Church.

     Take your career to new levels of satisfaction by investing in your relationship.

     Contact Pastoral Care: ron@creeksideeg.com for your free coupon to complete the Friendship and Shared Values Assessment.

References:

1. "Five Ways Starting a Business Can Affect Your Marriage," FranchiseHelp.com — Link