Over the last few days the world has been reeling over the untimely death of pop icon Whitney Houston. As a teenager I grew up on a steady diet the late singer’s hits. My favorites among them are Greatest Love of All, Saving All My Love For You, I Have Nothing and I Will Always Love You from the iconic Bodyguard movie soundtrack.
I can remember singing Greatest Love of All as a solo in a school program. I also competed in a regional talent show singing One Moment in Time. I even wanted hair extensions like hers after I saw the Wanna Dance With Somebody music video. This woman had model good looks and became the voice of our time. She clearly had a God-given talent.
While we all mourn her tragic death, buy all of her seven albums from itunes and amazon.com, and share our favorite Whitney songs on Twitter, two things occurred to me. First of all, we all need to pray for Houston’s family, particularly for Bobbi Kristina. That little girl has lost her #1 fan, and she is at a critical stage in her development. Secondly, I can’t help but think about how Whitney lived and what she always sang about and how that could help us all be better business owners.
The theme in all of Whitney’s music was LOVE. She sang about finding love, searching for love, treasuring love, being every woman, losing love and looking to the Lord for love. From saving all my love for you, to how loving yourself is the greatest love of all and how she wanted to dance with somebody who loved her, how she had nothing if she did have her love, and how she will always love. The constant thread in her music was a need and want for Love.
As entrepreneurs there are some common characteristics we share that cause us to kill our love relationships. I wanted to encourage all entrepreneurs to prioritize the loves in your life, your friends, children and your sweeties or spouses. Work hard to make sure that these people know that they are loved and appreciated by you.
As a group, we tend to be tough and opinionated. We are often workaholics, and at times can take out our day on the people we love. Here are some techniques that will help you protect and strengthen those you love.
1) Be Patient: Regular people with jobs do not understand people like us. Be patient with your spouse and family.
2) Find a way to relax: Work hard, but play hard. Part of the reason why so many entrepreneurs are divorced is because we do not know how to relax. I use Yoga to calm down. It’s easy to blame everyone but yourself for your problems. Work hard not to take out your day on your husband, wife or your children. Show your appreciation often and be spontaneous.
3) Go out to non-work stuff : Work events are different from business events. It’s important to keep dating your spouse. Try to attend a non-work related events once a month, invite your spouse and or the boyfriend or girlfriend to come along. Or allow him or her to pick an event or restaurant to go to. As entrepreneurs sometimes we can make it all about us, make it about them too.
4) Ask for a referral: Get help with your search for love. If you want to start focusing on your love life, start asking your business contacts, friends and family for a quality referrals for a blind date. Let someone who knows you introduce you to someone great.
Whitney Houston will be remembered as the best female solo artist of all time. Goodbye sweet angel, I pray that you are enjoying heaven’s choir and that your daughter will find her way. Thank you for reminding us all about the power of LOVE.
Do you have any other relationship tips that you learned from Whitney Houston’s music?
Melinda F. Emerson, SmallBizLady is one of America’s leading small business experts. As a seasoned
