
Rich Breakthroughs Blog
Introduction To Rekindle
Welcome to Rekindle Wednesdays
As Esther Perel, the Belgian Psychotherapist, says,
“The quality of our relationships determines the quality of our lives.”
In the coming weeks, each Wednesday, we will share excerpts from our upcoming book launch and online program “Rekindle, Living Without Fear, Loving Without Limits.”
Many thanks to Lucy Martinez and Matt Zemon for assisting with the heavy lifting of the marketing and branding for our program. Lucy and Matt intervened mercifully and saved me from my worst instincts. Kudos to my writing partner and sidekick on this grand adventure, Ms. Anuradha Gandhi.
My husband, Rich Russakoff, deserves all the credit in the world for his consistent, compassionate support and enthusiasm for life, love, and learning.
So what is this Rekindle “stuff” all about?
Relationships are messy and unpredictable. The marriage of 2022 is full of challenges that didn’t exist in 1922. The last 100 years of human history have entirely changed the relationship climate without a clear set of “new rules” to step into.
Modern relationships turn into sinking ships far too often, and the odds can seem stacked against us.
50% of marriages in the USA end in divorce.
60% of second marriages end in divorce.
73% of third marriages end in divorce.
Yikes!
Once upon a time, marriage was the norm for adults in America. But now, for the first time since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking these numbers in 1976, there are more single Americans than married Americans. That is a huge change. About 50.2 percent — or 124.6 million American adults — are single. In 1950, that number was about 22 percent. Today, for many, the companionship provided by a pet replaces spouses. Pets are often described as providing companionship, emotional support, security, or a sense of “home.”
What an odd disconnect. Two of the three top-grossing motion pictures of all time are Titanic, and Avatar, blockbuster films with love stories at the core. Although we are suckers for a great love story, we struggle to create one for ourselves.
This was my problem as well.
The great news is that it is possible to be in intimate contact with another human being and be in harmony with oneself and the other. Hallelujah!
As the saying goes, it is simple but it’s not easy.
The experience of discovering and uncovering what it means to be elastic in a marriage is the blueprint for the Rekindle program. And Rich can certainly testify that we have stretched ourselves in growing into what we share today.
And what we are sharing today is well worth the effort. Stay tuned in the upcoming weeks as we share more about the challenges and rewards of being in a sustainable renewable relationship full of passion, connection, and romance. It’s delicious.
The CEO Checklist
Historically, 20% of the companies that make the Inc. 500 list crash and burn within two years of making the list. What should they have known? What should they have done or done differently? High growth is high risk. It is one thing for a business to ride a wave....
How do you use the 23 Universal Employee Attributes?
In the last post, I shared 23 Universal Employee Attributes that you should look for in every employee or candidate for employment. The question now is, how do you use them? What are the attributes you look for when you hire employees? Can you identify...
What are the 23 Universal Employee Attributes?
The reason most employees don’t work out is that the company didn’t do their homework upfront. In hiring, companies often fail to fully appreciate both what attributes are necessary for success in a certain role and what attributes a candidate possess. William T....
Secret Weapon for the Savvy CEO
Keep your business agile, relevant, adaptable, and profitable. How? There's a way available to you and it's courtesy of our friends in finance. You might be thinking, "What on Earth could the accounting folks offer that could deliver all that?" It's called...
5 Ways to Be Debt Smart
Unless you have been on a walk-about in New Guinea, hibernating in a cave, or are visiting us from another planet, you know that debt fuels just about everything in our world - from helicopters to housing, countries to cosmetics, derivatives to designer...
3 Strikes and You’re Out
Leaders get the behaviors they exhibit and tolerate. -Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan, Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done The three strike rule should apply to more than just baseball; it should also be part of your employee policy. One of the hardest...
Hey, What About Me?
"No matter what I do or where I am, I feel like I should be somewhere else. My world right now is totally reactive, and it sucks." That's how our conversation started. We were talking to a business owner whose business was in high season. It was a complex...
Paying Attention Pays in Dividends: How to Trim your Bottom Line without Cutting a Single Cost
A penny saved is not a penny earned. To business owners, a penny saved is a nickel, dime, or more earned. Let us explain: If you have a 10% profit margin, you need to generate $1,000 in new sales to net the same profit as cutting $100 in expenses. Thus, a...
The 7 C’s of Leadership
"Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others." -Jack Welch The dictionary definition of “lead” is “to be in charge...
Great is 3 Times Better than Good
The Container Store, which has been rated one of the top 100 places to work for over ten years in a row, believes that one great employee equals three good employees (GreatPlaceToWork.com). Let that sink in…. a great employee is three times as valuable as...
9 Crucial Tasks for the CEO
"But what will I do?" a CEO asked us. He had a great COO who handled his company's day-to-day operations and had just interviewed a perfect candidate to take over the financial side of his business. The only problem - hiring a CFO would leave him with...
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