I’m coming from a heated conversation (that’s a code word for a fight) with my wife.  The subject of the fight doesn’t matter, but in the aftermath, here I am, writing this blog to give you a piece of my perspective on conflict resolution.  The subject of our disagreement isn’t pertinent, but how it finished, is.  Many of you may be thinking I’m going to tell you it ended well, and you would be wrong.  Although with the circumstances surrounding the discussion, I think it ended as well as it could have.

During our disagreement, I was feeling especially triggered by my wife’s accusations (my word, not hers), and after a few minutes I realized neither of us was going to budge.  I was getting mad, and I knew I was getting close to saying things I was going to regret.  When I felt myself going in that direction, I said, as respectfully as I could, that I could no longer continue because I was getting angry.   I needed to take it up the issue later.  It was tough for Sue, but she respected my request, and we both agreed we would pick it back up in the morning with some time and thought under our belts. I anticipate that tomorrow it will go well because we will have had some much needed time for reflection on the subject.

Conflict resolution is a massive skill to develop in any marriage.  My wife and I have had to learn how to do it, just like any other couple.  We are becoming more skilled every day.

As many of you know, I believe that money affects family and family affects money. If we want to be effective entrepreneurs, a skill set we must develop is conflict resolution.  Sometimes the best choice is to back away and start again.  My mental cue for this is when I notice myself wanting to be unreasonable.  Resolution is never very close when I’m in that mental state, and my best chance for a healthy resolution to a problem is to step away and revisit it at an agreed upon time in the near future.