Is Your Career Killing Your Marriage? [EXPERT]

Joanie is proud of her accomplishments. She has risen to the top of her department at work in less than a year. The extra hours in meetings and training sessions have been well worth it. She is thrilled to bring home the paycheck that she does, but her career success has been much more than that. The sense of achievement and boost in self esteem that Joanie continues to receive from all of her hard work is the most important benefit.

Unfortunately, Joanie's husband disagrees with her. He complains when she stays late at the office and often gets angry when she brings home projects to finish up. Recently, her husband had a major meltdown and accused Joanie of caring more about her career than about their marriage. He's been sleeping in their spare bedroom this past week and has hardly spoken to Joanie. She feels angry and torn. Could it be that her career is killing her marriage? 6 Reasons To Put Love Before Your Career

It can seem impossible to have both a successful career and a close, connected marriage. In a tight economy, many employers are trying to stretch their dollars...this includes stretching employees. Longer hours and a more competitive environment at work are frequently the result. For you, this might be the case. It could also be that you truly enjoy doing what you do for a living. Maybe, like Joanie, you get a lot of satisfaction and a feeling of self-worth from giving your all to your job.

The trouble is, when you are so focused on your career, your relationship might slide. Creating a happy and fulfilling marriage requires effort too. It may seem to you that there's just not enough of you to go around. Yes, you probably love your partner deeply and you want your marriage to be healthy, but for right now, there just doesn't seem to be the time or energy to put your all into both your marriage and your career. It might seem like you have to choose. This can cause inner turmoil as well as tension and conflict between you and your spouse.

Do you have to sacrifice your career just to have a close and connected relationship? How can you resolve this impossible dilemma?

Try a re-frame.

When you feel as if you're stuck in an "either/or" hard place, chances are you've got a narrow perspective going on. In the majority of cases, when it seems like there is no other possible way, there actually are other options. You just can't see them because you feel so stuck. Invite yourself to re-frame your situation. When you re-frame a situation, you aren't denying that your partner nags you about working weekends or that your boss doesn't seem to understand that you have a family at home. Instead, you intentionally take a slightly different point of view. Can You Live With Your Partner's Quirks? EXPERT

Sit down with a piece of paper. Without censoring yourself, fill in the blanks for the statements below:

“I have to focus on my (career or marriage) right now because______.”
“When I focus on mostly on my (career or marriage), I feel____ because _____.”