In his book The Wolf of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort tells about starting his career as a stockbroker on October 19, 1987. That was “Black Monday” . . . the day the Dow fell 508 points and lost 22.61% of its value. It was the largest single-day decline in stock market history.
In the real world, that was the day my company filed to go public. Four years of hard work, thousands in attorney and banker fees. Poof!
In the three years leading up to “Black Monday,” I’d logged nearly 500,000 frequent flyer miles. My company, Async Corporation, had grown to 22 offices and I was all over the place. We had scarfed up four of our competitors and we were “NASDAQ bound!” But in the stretch of a few hours, our IPO went up in flames.
I called my wife with the news. Not being a businessperson, she didn’t fully grasp the significance of what had happened. But she did know how hard I’d worked to make our little company successful. And with every employee owning stock or stock options, she knew how badly I wanted this deal to work out. All she could say was . . .
“I’m so sorry, Regi . . . why don’t you come on home?”
My friend Charlie told me years ago, “If you’re going to love a God, you’d better pick one that’ll love you back.” I had loved the IPO intensely . . . and for quite a while. In the end, it didn’t love me back. But my wife did. She was there for me. And for once in my life, I was humble enough to do what she said. I went home. By the end of the evening, I even laughed about the events of the day. Go figure.
So how does one find such a wife? How do you “train” her to be that good?
Newsflash . . . your spouse has the potential to be amazing. A lot of it is up to you. If you’ll do just a few things consistently, you’ll be blown away by how their attitude toward you can change. For example, when you’re about to start a sentence with the word “you,” don’t. Nothing good follows “You never . . .” or “If you would only . . .” or “You used to . . .” Somehow that word always feels like criticism is coming next. Catch yourself . . . stop using the word “you.” Fewer arguments. Less contention. More love.
You may not be a “Wall Street” kind of person. You may never experience a “Black Monday” . . . I hope you don’t. But you will have negative turns in your business or profession, and when they happen, you’ll want to call the person closest to you and tell them about it. Invest in them now so they’ll be there for you when that day comes.
