Romance and risk taking

By Rob Weinberg

Scott and Fran were together throughout my high school career. They just “worked” as a couple, and everyone assumed they’d be a lifelong success.

After graduation they went to separate colleges but kept connecting and sparking. There was true love there, and

mr marketing for webeveryone looked forward to them living happily ever after.

Over time many of us lost touch, and for me the thread of the story disappeared — until five years ago.

That was when I learned of Fran’s death, and discovered she and Scott had never married. Scott’s chronic inability to commit had prevented it.

Like Scott, I met my high school sweetheart at age 15. I ignored parental instructions to date others before making a long-term commitment. In my youthful fantasies Jill and I were perfect together.

We married at 22. We divorced at 25.

It actually took four more years for me to find the love of my life, with whom I’m now about to celebrate 25 years of wedded bliss. Life is wonderful beside my best friend and soul mate.

Romantic success is about opportunity, risk-assessment, luck, timing, and guts. Scott and I both had similar opportunities, but there the roads diverged.

Scott’s failure to have the courage to walk through life hand in hand with Fran led him to a lifetime of recriminations. He never recovered from the loss.

I wasn’t so smart either. I didn’t do enough research, misread the signals and fell flat on my face. However, by combining the knowledge from this disaster with the experience of others my new bride and I were able to create a lifelong success.

Your business faces similar questions: searching for the right partner, building a relationship, exchanging gifts, making promises, and with luck and hard work, staying together for a lifetime.

As the economy continues improving, learn from these examples. Scott teaches that wishing for success doesn’t make it so unless you work for it and sometimes just shoot craps.

Jill demonstrates how due diligence is key to long-term success, and sometimes our enthusiasm can be our own worst enemy.

And I’ll vouch that research, patience, finding (or creating) opportunities, and investing in yourself can bring the perfect payoff to both your professional and your personal life.

With that said, I wish you a year of perfect romance.

Ask Mr. Marketing how to build lifelong relationships with your customers. Reach him at www.askmrmarketing.com.