Many of you know I left my career as a corporate lawyer earlier this year to become a full-time ghostwriter and content coach. Although the point of that transition was to lean into my family life, little did I know how much that process would impact me from a relational perspective….

I started the transition in late 2015 after someone approached me with a manuscript by an accomplished speaker, trainer, and coach, who wanted a professional set of fingers to help him finish it in a way that made sure he served his readers well. She thought I'd be a good fit and a part of his core audience and suggested I accept this as my first big project. So I did.

The book was by Brett Campbell, who had created a 4-part framework for designing business and personal lives that he'd been using with clients and audiences through speaking engagements, live training events, and one-on-one coaching and consultants. His clients and audiences had been seeing great results.

But his challenge was to find a way to translate a message and system that was conveyed effectively on stage or the phone to something that worked well on paper, a completely different animal, and a skill I developed by writing millions of words in a professional and creative setting.

Over the course of working with Brett to ensure his book delivered on the promise to give actionable, effective steps and a new perspective to accomplishing goals far larger than you would imagine are possible, I started quietly applying his system to my personal and business life.

(If you know anything about me, you know that I'm constantly asking myself how I can apply business lessons to my marriage to consistently improve my relationship. Working on this book was no different.)

In the months working with Brett, I became inspired by his 4-part book and personal improvement framework to be even more deliberate with my business and personal life.

Because of that, I asked Brett to come on the Confessions of a Terrible Husband podcast to share his framework with us and talk with me about using it to improve relationships. Although Brett designed the system for more broad application to your life overall, many of you know that I'm a big proponent of asking how great systems, lessons, or content can apply specifically to improving relationships.

You can listen to the interview right here:

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If you prefer, you can also listen (and subscribe) on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, Facebook, and more, where you'll see dozens of other episodes and be able to get new ones sent right to your phone!

I'm excited that Brett agreed because our conversation was so much fun and useful for two reasons.

First, it's a great conversation about the substance of his framework and the steps you can take to improve many areas of your life. That alone is awesome.

Second, it's a great peek into how I approach great content to apply it to improving marriages. You can hear me do out loud what I normally do in my head, taking the content and applying it to relationships. You can even hear Brett react to some of that and further that discussion.

Definitely check it out, and if you want to check out Brett's book, he's doing a presale now on his website right here where he's giving away $347 in bonuses if you preorder the book. If you prefer, you can even get the book on Amazon right here. Brett's special preorder page has additional purchase options. Once you buy, send your email to Send or forward your receipt to: bonus@brettcampbell.net and if you buy it on time he'll email you the bonuses. Pretty awesome. I have already been through two of the bonuses and they're awesome.

Remember, one of the most effective ways to consistently improve your marriage is to be consistently searching for new lessons and perspectives on personal improvement and asking yourself how this can apply to the most important areas of your life. If you want to get started doing that, this episode is a great example of how to do that with an even better example of a substantive 4-part framework to help you do it!

When you have a listen, I'd love to hear what resonated with you about the framework or the process we demonstrate about applying content like this to relationships! Be sure to come back and let  me know what jumped out to you in the comments!

I did something different yesterday morning that reminded me of the importance of the pace with which we live our lives.

If you want to listen to the story, click the play button at the end of this post where it says “Listen Here.”

If you prefer to read, here's what happened:

My six-year-old son, Pavlos, woke up super early (6am, compared to 7:15 or so).

He was (as he usually is) full of energy.

The house was quiet. My wife and 4-year-old daughter were asleep.

I was up reading.

We normally tell Pavlos when he wakes up to look at the clock and if it is before 7am he can get up, brush his teeth, and get changed, but he then has to get back into bed until at least 7.

He's pretty good with that routine.

At about 6am yesterday, I heard the thud of him jumping out of his bed followed by the pitter patter of his tiny little footsteps going from his bedroom to our bedroom.

For some reason, however, I decided to interrupt his routine yesterday.

“Pavlos,” I yelled.

The footsteps stopped, and then started again, growing louder and louder as he bolted down the stairs.

He turned the corner and, as Zig Ziglar would say, smiled so wide he could eat a banana sideways.

I smiled, too, said good morning, and gave him a big hug and kiss.

He knew I wasn't sending him back to bed, so he asked me if I could help him find his bag of popsicle sticks and some post-it notes because he and his friends had planted jellybeans at school and the kindergarteners kept digging them up.

He wanted to make “flags” to put around the jellybeans so the kindergarteners would know there were plants there that the first graders were wanting to grow into lollipops.

We made flags.

It was such a fun time, with him writing “plants here” nice and neatly on the post-its, me making some, too, and then me reinforcing the post-it notes on the sticks with scotch tape.

When we were done, he gathered his “flags,” put them in a ziplock bag, and stuck the ziplock bag in his backpack.

He was so excited.

I then asked him if he wanted to take a walk with me.

We had never taken a walk before school, and we hadn't taken a walk at all since well before winter.

We both put on the closest gear available, him wearing bright red rain boots, the first coat he could find, and a baseball cap, and me wearing black pajama pants, a white t-shirt, a wool hat, and my winter coat.

We took a 10-15 minute walk to the end of the cul-de-sac and back.

I led him in conversation a bit, but mostly let his mind wander and asked him questions about things that are important to him.

When we got home, he grabbed the post-it notes, again, and ran to the corner of the room.

I got ready for work.

He told me when I get to work to look in my backpack and “dig deep.”

I did.

At the bottom of my backpack was the crumpled post-it note you see right here.

I called my wife to let her know about the note because I knew she would find it cute.

She told the kids that I was on the phone and to say hi.

Pavlos yelled in the background:

“Hi Dad! I had a great time with you this morning!”

The sincerity and joy in his voice were obvious.

I melted.

Then I paused.

Then I realized that I sometimes let my mind speed through the day, racing through the minutes and hours like an athlete training to win the next race. I spend the whole day focused on what I need to do next to accomplish a goal I have set for my personal or professional life.

I stick to my routine, wanting to finish my reading goal, have a certain amount of quiet time, or otherwise just continue according to my “plan.”

I spend the whole day focused on what I need to do next to accomplish some personal or business goal months or years out.

Other times, I slow down and realize that I'm already winning, right now, in ways that are way more important than whatever comes next.

How can you slow down today?

What can you interrupt?

What can you say yes to?

How are you already winning in ways that are more important than whatever comes next?

Listen Here:

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