Treat your relationship like an important job
Many of us come to our day or night jobs with a lot of seriousness. We wake up early to prepare. We dress well and make sure we are alert and prepared for meetings. We bring a lot of respect to the workplace and watch how we speak to our colleagues and superiors. However, when it comes to relationships, we sometimes imagine that these values are optional. But they are not. Your relationship should have its own to-do list, where you mark off the important days to remember and take off time to do evaluations as well as finding ways to motivate your partner to keep them performing at their best.
No one starts out hoping for a short-lived relationship. When we meet someone new, we hope our contract will be extended for many years to come. But how can your better half be enticed to keep renewing this partnership if all you do is disrespect them or bore them to death? What new ideas can you bring to the relationship today? Do you know where the flower shop is? Do you know how much it costs your wife or girlfriend to do their hair? Have you learnt how to do body massage?
Do you even know which oils you need for the massage and where to buy them? Why don’t you arm yourself with this knowledge and thank me later? We have so many resources at our disposal, especially now that many have access to the Internet. So instead of only engaging in WhatsApp chats with friends, why not spare some MBs to google about improving your love life? You will be surprised what comes up in the search. Don’t just use your Internet bundles for liking other people’s posts on Facebook and Instagram. Send your loved one some cheeky messages. You may receive that bonus you have been longing for.
While I make it all sound serious, it shouldn’t be. Doing things for your partner should come easy. I know your job pays you a salary but your relationship will also pay dividends if you invest in it. So keep reinventing yourself, consult the textbooks if you must and educate yourself. New ideas come up every day. Do not be stuck in the past, doing the same old things. Be modern and keep up with the trends.
Relationships also need the five and 10-year plans and these should come with a budget attached. One often hears people complain about investing time and money in their partner but would you complain about paying for staff motivation or team building events at the office? Why do we think these things are important to do with mere acquaintances but cannot take some of this wisdom to apply in our own private lives? Once in a while, you should have a campaign where you rebrand your relationship, change the colours and come up with new designs. Take your loved one on a relationship retreat where you can unwind and brainstorm on the direction your life is taking.
Don’t be stingy. Invest in each other and you don’t have to wait until you have a lot of money. You can still spice things up on a budget. After all, isn’t the best manager the one who knows how to move things forward even when you are cost cutting? Of course like your job, if you take the relationship for granted, you may come up short at the time of performance review.
