Audit your Personal Relationships

Welcome to the OPPO FLOW Storybook. 

Each week I fly an entertaining and motivating story that provides actionable items to inspire growth towards your success and happiness.

The weekly flights bring you one of the following:

A MINDSET SHIFT to prepare for opportunity and build better habits towards success. 🤯

Or…

AN OPPORTUNITY STORY sharing inspirational pivotal moments from someone’s life that changed their trajectory in a positive way. 🚀

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Hi, Good Afternoon!

Relationships come in many forms.

The two types of relationships that we think about mostly in how we interact with other humans…

• Personal

• Professional

For this week’s FLIGHT, let’s get PERSONAL and identify how we can achieve HAPPINESS through those relationships. 😁

My wife, Kimberly, and I just celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary this week:

Monday October 23rd.  🥳🍾

It’s been an incredible ride since that day in 2010 and I absolutely love doing this thing called life with her.

She is my ROCK 🪨 and I would be completely LOST without her. 😰

I believe the reason for our success thus far is purely because of the RESPECT we have for one another. 🤝

We don’t always agree on things.

We’re not always on the same page.

But we ALWAYS communicate, respect, and show love for each other.

I’ve known this beautiful woman since I was 15 years old, but we didn’t start dating until our senior year of college.

Mainly because of… well… ME… 😬

…and that once upon a time, super scary word: COMMITMENT.

Once we decided to get serious, though, things moved pretty quickly from there.

We moved into an apartment, got married a year or so later, bought a house, then our first born came a couple years after that, followed by our youngest to complete our FAMBAM… 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

All of this ensures life happens FAST. 🚀

And even though it feels like we live in a world traveling at warp speed, my wife and I try to find the time to recognize each other throughout the day.

It’s not uncommon to let each other know we’re thinking about them with a quick 😘 via text or a "hey, how’s your day?"

This little daily communication keeps us reminded that we’re here for each other, care for each other, and love each other.

We surprise each other and always have each other’s back, no matter what.

A successful RELATIONSHIP does not succeed without open and consistent COMMUNICATION.

Love you Babe!

Cheers to 13 Years and Many, Many More! 🥂

Let’s divide up personal relationships into two groups.

• CLOSE

• CASUAL

CLOSE PERSONAL are the people that bring you the most joy.

The ones you love the most.

A small tribe of people you rely on to survive and grow in this crazy thing called life.

It’s not about the quantity of those relationships, it’s about the quality.

Close personal relationships are just that, they’re CLOSE.  

They’re truly a phone call away and would drop anything to help you out when needed and you would do the same for them.

These are the people in your lives that…

• Lift you up, inspire, motivate, and align with your core values.

• You can call at 3am and they’d answer.

• You’d travel anywhere with.

• You check in on the most.

• You’d trust with anything.

• You’d do anything for.

If their CLOSE to you, the relationship feels effortless.

You’re on the same page.

You get each other.

You understand each other.

You want nothing but ultimate SUCCESS and HAPPINESS for each other. 🤩

If you are just as important to them as they are for you, they’ll feel the same way.

Remember that every relationship is unique, and what works for one may not work for another.

These people would typically include your…

• Spouse

• Best Friends

• Significant Other

• Immediate Family Members

Reward this group with your TIME.

Next we have our CASUAL PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS.

These are the types of people that still provide a great deal of VALUE, but you don’t usually fill them in on all your challenges or deepest darkest secrets.

These can also sometimes be one sided, where you they get more from you, than you do of them.

THIS IS OKAY.

In this group, you want to GIVE more than you RECEIVE.

That is the foundation of building a strong relationship.

Ask them questions. Find out who they are. Listen intently.

Show them you care, help them out, and be there for them first.

Cultivating and developing these casual relationships is one way to PREPARE for future OPPORTUNITIES.

These are the people that can open doors for you and provide future advancement along your path towards SUCCESS. 🤩

Most successful people can directly correlate milestone achievements to PIVOTAL MOMENTS involving a specific person or groups of people.

People that opened up their mind to think differently or introduced them to something new that got them to where they are today.

Tap into this group. Learn from this group. Give to this group.

These people would typically include your…

• Friends

• Co-workers

• Acquaintances

• Top Clients or Partners

Reward this group by being a RESOURCE.

As humans, we are social creatures.

We need others around us to keep us HAPPY. 😁

In fact, there’s a real epidemic going on in the US right now as it relates to Loneliness. (👈 NPR Article)

With the rapid shifts in technology and people working more remotely, there’s a real concern with the lack of in person, human to human connection.

We thrive on it. We need it.

This goes back thousands of years with not being able to survive without a community to lean in on and support each other.

The satisfaction level of your relationships is extremely crucial for our overall well-being as we grow older.

In fact, according to an 85 year old Harvard Study…

Relationships are Key to Health and Happiness.

All relationships start off casual, then move to close.

No matter who’s in your life, be sure there is a purpose for your relationship.

If you find the relationship is not serving you or it’s negative in nature…

MOVE ON!

Focus on developing strong PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS that are meaningful, positive, and drive happiness.

Your future self will thank you for it.

This is the MINDSET SHIFT. 🤯

Until our next FLIGHT, enjoy your YOUTUBE Music Video of the Week! 👇

P.S. This was the song Kim walked down the aisle to on our Wedding Day.

Remember, Opportunity is Everywhere!!

Cheers! Steven

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