“Business values are not same as healthy relational values, and they are often in complete opposition,” ， “Business often requires no emotionality and is all about being rational, productive and answering, ‘What is this going do for me?’ ” he says. “Personal relationships are the opposite: They are going to do nothing for you! Just being is your only goal, and you often can’t schedule for it. The person who built an empire must unlearn much of what made them so successful if they want their relationship to work.”
Professional leaders who also thrive in their personal lives are those who learn to value their partners as an equal—regardless of their social capital, whether financial wealth, connections or physical beauty. “Highly successful people are used to being the most important person in the room, but that doesn’t work at home,” Donaghue says.
Often keeping the relationship alive and healthy might require drastic changes, including in one’s social circle, and ceasing reliance on social media approval. “We are highly influenced by people we surround ourselves with, and an obsession with your social media following that prioritizes cars and vacations and big houses, makes you disconnected from what is important. It is important to have peers who focus on something meaningful in their lives.”