Love - It's All A Business
Last spring, I read this awesome social experiment called, '40 Days of Dating,' which followed two friends' diary excerpts as they attempt to date for forty straight days. For those of you who would like to check it out, just feel free to click on this link right here: http://fortydaysofdating.com/ The experiment was rather fascinating for me because it was not limited to just romance. It was a form of self-expression, self-discovery, and self-awareness for the couple. In one of their daily excerpts, the author made a comparison between Walt Disney and Steve Jobs, two extraordinary men who lived less than typical lives. He drew the comparison between the two not in regards to their innovative thought processes, but to their keen ability to recognize which ideas (or relationships) worth pursuing as well as to persevere through challenges and realize them. The parallels between business and romance is surreal. All of this reminded me of the time I tried to explain to my friends about my less-than-complicated love life and how similar it was to business transactions (in the most non-slutty way, of course). Here are a couple of questions that always pop into my mind:
1) Does the cost outweighs the benefit?
2) You're the salesperson. Your significant other is the customer. So what are the customer's needs vs. wants?
3) Do I have the ability and time to create customer value and satisfaction?
4) How should we, as a couple, set up a performance appraisal process and reward/ compensation system?
5) What are our common goals, assets, and liabilities?
Ayn Rand explained this love vs. business concept and said that, "Love should be treated like a business deal." The important part is recognizing that each individual deals are unique and therefore, has its own terms and currency. When it comes to relationships or marriages, the currency is virtue and time. You love the person for their values, their virtues, and their character. Time is what you give to the person whose values, virtues, and character when they align with yours.
I've had girl friends who'd share with me their day-to-day issues with their respective significant others and the startling challenges that come with a relationship. Sometimes, if they are lucky, the two of them are able to work things out, communicate, and grow. Other times, I see my friends settling for less than what they know they deserve. While I know it sounds rather saddening, I have definitely been in both shoes before. So through my observation as well as personal experiences, I've learned that dissemination of either a romance or business has a lot to do with partners' inability to communicate as well as their unwillingness to work together.
Thinking about these things scare me. Why's that? I don't want to have to look back at my previous investments and think, "Wow, that was a deep depressing valley. Glad I got myself out of it." Yes, life is about investing, making a couple of mistakes, and failing here and there. However, it's also about making smart choices, managing your time wisely, and etc. This explains why I like to treat every new encounter in my life as a potential business venture. Punctuality becomes critical, but so is attentiveness and effort. When our relationship work ethic rivals or is equivalent to our professional work ethic, that's when we know we're doing something right ;) Am I right?
