The final step is developing together, developing a world together, and making each other’s dreams come true.
If your partner dreams of owning a Model T Ford, say ‘Yes’ when they want to buy one. If your partner has always wanted to learn Chinese, say ‘yes’ when they want to go to night school with you.
It’s good to have a couples language that’s just for you. “Remember that time when…”(we went on holidays to Canberra, we snorkelled with sharks, we walked 2km in 40 degree Celcius heat) is a wonderful tool to stroke your partners good feelings.
My husband had always wanted a moon watch, and that was my wedding present to him. His first anniversary present to me was a painting that I really loved. We do what we can to make each others dreams come true.
This means having good boundaries, accepting that your partner will be right sometimes, and that they get to have a say in what happens as a couple, but not letting them walk all over you.
It means talking and talking and talking.
It also means respecting when your partner gets overwhelmed and letting them stop. Letting them self soothe, and soothing them where possible.
It means watching your partner for signs that they’re getting upset and coming back to it later.
Roasted Kumera, Chicken Sausage, Fetta, Kale, and Spinach
My husband and I are having a big discussion right now about food. I read obsessively about diet, and even though I weigh around 190kg, I put into practice anything I can. For example I take supplements that are associated with a decreased risk of Type 2 Diabetes, I make sure I have a long gap between meals and snacks so my insulin doesn’t stay constantly high and I have a decreased risk of insulin resistance, I increase my protein, vegetable and legume intake and decrease my white carb intake.
Anything I’m capable of, I do.
Yet, my husband and I Both enable each other to eat potatoes, biscuits, chocolate and desserts.
Apple pie! Ready for the oven.
So my husband’s driving license has recently been threatened, and we’re having to do some serious thinking.
It’s tough coming up against ourselves like that.
Last night we were talking and my husband asked for a time out.
We stopped for a minute, and I stroked his hand.
After a while I said something, and he held out his left hand in a stop gesture.
I stopped.
It doesn’t mean that we won’t talk about it, and keep on talking about it, it just means that when he or I get overwhelmed, we pause for a moment and calm down for a while. We can each rely on the other not to cause harm by flooding.
After you’ve spent a long time getting to know your partner and learning their personal traits and histories, the next step is to love all over your partner and snuggle into their yumminess.
This means compliment your partner, tell them what they’re doing right, listen to them telling you 100 times the same joke and still smile wryly.
Tell them you love them and you love the way they pick up groceries on the way home, or wash up all the plastic recycling on the weekend, or shake the water off their butt when they get out of the shower.
As John Flanagan a Gottman trainer says, the next step is to be your partner’s cheer leader.
Something my husband and I do is tell each other how much we love each other several times per day. I tell him he’s a good husband and I love him, and I say thank you to him for doing every good thing he does that I remember. Yesterday he tidied his cupboards, and he took the recycling box downstairs. I said thank you. Because he’s a good little kitten and I love him. Naaaaaw.
He tells me he loves me he likes my cooking and he’s proud of me for getting good marks at uni and he’s proud of me when I get a new client, and he thinks I’m a good wife. I love him and he loves me.
I also have an example of this from a friend, one of my friends and I start on the level of functional and we work to make each other more functional. I can talk to her about things I’m working on to improve, and she can talk to me too.
Here is one simple action I do to trick myself into locking more money into savings:
Make the numbers in your savings accounts line up in a row.
Here’s what I mean, I use a notice saver account which means that I can’t access my savings for a minimum of 30 days no matter how many shiny things I want to buy.
This very neatly prevents me from buying shiny things.
About 2-3 days after arranging a transfer, I nearly always think twice about buying the shiny, shiny, stuff and cancel it. Ka-ching!
I try to add money to this account every single week, even if it’s only $1.
The way I trick myself into saving more, is by adding (say) $5 to each account, and then remembering how much I Love it when the numbers go in a row.
Isn’t it fun-ner to see a savings account at $8, 722.22 rather than $8, 714.37?
I think it’s waaaaaay better when the numbers all go in a row. It makes me happy.
And then, because you’re putting money in but not taking money out, the numbers go Up as well.
So not only do you have a cool number pattern, you’re also putting money into savings and increasing your wealth base.
Awesome!
All you do, is grab a calculator, and put enough money into the account so that the last four digits go in a row (eg $8, 714.37 would increase by $7.85 to make $8, 722.22).
Generally this will cost you no more than $11.12 per account, and when they’re all orderly and delicious, you’re going to feel really good.
Good luck and happy savings 🙂
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By reading this blog, you agree that you read it under your own risk, and Gill’s Practical Bookkeeping is in no way responsible for any harm or prejudice to yourself, your business, or any fictional examples above.
I am not a financial advisor. I do not have an AFSL. I am a chick who likes to read, think, write, and has access to google. You should treat this blog with the same seriousness that you would treat anyone whose main qualification is access to google. This blog is for entertainment purposes only. It’s a little like watching The Good Place for nerds or artists.
Anything you take from this blog is your responsibility. Nothing in this blog, even if you are mentioned by name, address, and telephone number, pertains to your personal situation. Anything you agree with, or disagree with, you are welcome to comment on, but your opinions belong to you. You are responsible for your comments. If they are offensive, I will remove them.
Want to find out 10 careers with a median income over 70K that you can do without a four year degree?
The only one different that I know of in Australia as the Registered Nurse– In Au you need a 4 year degree. Enrolled Nurses have a 2 year diploma in Australia.
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