Working can be intense!
It’s not easy to switch off, is it?
How often do you come home at the end of the day and you’re still feeling the weight of it from earlier?
Sunday blues ahead of Monday – do you recognise those in yourself or your partner?
Have you ever thought to yourself, “They just don’t understand,” when you’re feeling your work pressures and your partner isn’t “getting it”?
At the Champion Academy we teach you how to communicate with yourself and others so that you and your partner can support one another through each day more effectively, resulting in a better work and home environment, and all the benefits that those bring.
1. Learn empathy and compassion
In a relationship, empathy and compassion are key.
Empathy is being able to share and understand someone else’s emotions. Compassion is being able to see the suffering of others, combined with the natural desire to help.
These are the best gifts we can offer to those closest to us, or to anyone for that matter: compassion and empathy.
To practice compassion and empathy, try this: ask yourself how you would feel in your partner’s shoes after their day.
2. Recognise the challenges
Whether you want to admit it or not, we can all be needy. We often come home emotionally drained from a long day at work.
Both you and your partner should recognise the difficulties of each other’s working days.
We often see our own job as being the hardest job in the world. Remember that your partner’s job can be difficult and time-consuming too. Share together.
3. Be supportive
We all, at times, have a tendency to bottle things up when we are at work and then when we are at home. To a degree, this is a lack of an appropriate emotional response to our situation – we internalise our feelings, and this often gives them more negative meanings.
It requires awareness to notice that you or your partner are overly harsh with yourselves. Why hold yourselves up to an impossibly high standard that no one can meet?
We are often expected to be perfect at work, and we expect the same from ourselves all the time. However, mistakes can and do happen.
When mistakes do happen, be compassionate. Recognise that one of you is in pain and simply be there for the other.
Finally, celebrate one another’s victories and successes at work. We are often motivated by the stick rather than the carrot. When something good happens, like closing a sale or completing a deal, give the “victor” a carrot and celebrate these wins. Tell them they did a great job. Offer genuine words of praise and support.
4. Looking after yourself is your responsibility
Of course, these tips must be mutual – but you can only look after others as well as you are able to look after yourself.
Examples of looking after yourself obviously include exercise, mindfulness, sleep, nutrition, rest and holidays. However, the key component to looking after yourself is setting boundaries between work and home.
Treat yourself to the small things that bring you pleasure, and schedule time each day for you.
Remember that looking after yourself is something that only you can do for yourself.
Absolutely encourage one another by doing things as a couple that help each of you. However, you can’t force your partner to exercise, eat right or get enough sleep.
I remember reading once, “Work can be a possessive mistress.”
Our careers are fulfilling and financially important, but we are replaceable at work. We’re not replaceable at home.
It’s about priorities.
Ultimately, if there are difficulties in your relationship, approach them with curiosity and gentleness.
Recognise the problems that you bring to the relationship, and when things get tough, remind yourself that these moments will pass.
Curated by Erbe
Original Article