This is a topic that actually gets brought up a lot to me, and so I figured it would be a great one to touch on. Some of you may not know, but my husband is actually my coach. With that being said, people have often asked me if it’s hard, or how do you guys separate personal life and business?
Quite honestly, in the very beginning it wasn’t easy, only because I had a very hard time separating husband and coach. When he would be talking to me as coach, I would take it very personally and think he was talking to me as significant other, thus causing me to be that difficult client. It made his job harder, and also put strain on our relationship with me reacting that way. At one point, I had considered working with someone else, because I didn’t want to put strain on us anymore. The reason I decided to give it another try and put my emotions aside, is because Shawn literally puts health first, and there are only very few out there that do the same. I believe in him, and know how amazing he is as a coach.
After we discussed how we are going to do things, we keep the entities separate now. Even though we live together, I will still send my check-ins like everyone else does. Whenever I have a question related to him coaching me, I ask it through the same app I send my check-ins on too. I no longer ask outside of that, because again I want to keep our romantic relationship separate from our coaching to client relationship. Since doing that, it’s a walk in the park now. It’s made it so much easier for the both of us to succeed in many endeavors.
Same goes for when we are discussing business too. We keep that very separate from everything else, that way we can keep everything running efficiently.
Now this may not work for everyone, and that’s totally okay too! If for some reason this didn’t work for us, my romantic relationship with Shawn is more important to me than anything else, and I’m never willing to jeopardize that. I would then seek another coach who has similar values/ expertise. So if you’ve ever tried to get coached by your significant other and it didn’t work for you, do not worry, that’s extremely common, and it’s not easy to do at all. This is where finding a coach would be a great idea.
When it comes to being in prep and in a relationship, it can be of course challenging too. Especially when the hunger kicks in, I swear I turn into a different human sometimes, haha. The best thing you can do if you’re the person in prep is do your best to take everything day by day, and really take a step back and remember that you are doing this for yourself, no one has forced you to be hungry, or to do what you’re doing. Try your best not to lash out at your partner, that’s your main support system. They’re proud of you and want to see you do well. If you’re the significant other that’s not in prep, be extremely patient with your partner. Depending on what stage of prep they’re in, they may be running off of one brain cell, so things may not register as they normally do. If they’re having a rough day, remind them of their goals and why they are doing this. Be supportive, and know that if they’re being a grouch, do not take it personally. They aren’t their normal selves, and it can be incredibly challenging, but all of this is temporary too for both parties. If you’re in prep together, be extra patient with one another and don’t die… just kidding, haha you won’t die. But definitely take things with a grain of salt between each other, and cheer your partner on!