Sam Malone Show Marriage Talk With Sam Malone And Honor The Vow's Robert Cossick

Whether you want to turn your marriage around or just take it to a new level, you not only need to have a plan, the plan needs to be concise and easy to understand with realistic expectations. In this segment we discuss the one page marriage plan.

In business, instilling a focus on increasing revenue will grow a company at a rate of four times that of efforts focused on reducing the costs of running the business. Translate that into marriage and focusing on growing together will strengthen your marriage four times faster than efforts to fix your problems. The most successful marriages focus on both, but the return on growth will be greater.

It is very common to feel hopeless when your marriage is falling apart. Hopelessness is the result of being both physically and mentally spent, totally confused about what you feel, and the fear that nothing will ever change. In this segment, learn how to turn your hopelessness to hope and in the process turn your marriage around.

A common response to constructive criticism is to claim, “That’s just the way I was made.” The reality is that’s nothing more than a copout. Just because you were ‘made’ a certain way doesn’t mean you have to stay that way. In other words, the way you are isn’t necessarily the way you should be? Three truths about changing who we are.

The Dead Sea is dead because it only receives and never gives. Your marriage will become a Dead Sea if one spouse always receives but never gives. In this segment we discuss how to bring life back into your marriage.

Some men will go out of their way to avoid an angry wife. One husband retreated to the restroom to avoid his angry and yelling wife. From there he called Mr. Cossick for advice. Mr. Cossick’s advice, “Flush the toilet.” He did as instructed and then reengaged in the conversation with his wife. (you’ll have to listen to the segment to find out why this worked).

Most couples don’t have a realistic understanding of what to expect from marriage. Their expectations are often too high which places a tremendous amount of stress on the marriage when those expectations are not met. If you want to build or rebuild a great marriage the first step is to bust a few of the myths about marriage. In this segment we discuss (bust) 5 of them.

Wife: “You’re the worst husband ever”; Husband: “I hate being married to you” Words like those will cut to our core, but what’s being said verbally isn’t what’s really being said.The real message might be one of affection and love.

In the 1976 film ‘Taxi Driver’ Robert De Niro memorialized the phrase, “You talkin’ to me?” That’s a celebrated line in movies, but if your spouse uses that line in response to a comment you just made, things are probably not going to end well. Studies have found that if the initial three minutes of a discussion includes sarcasm, criticism, or expressions of contempt, there’s a 96% chance the discussion will end in an argument. In this segment we discuss three steps to reverse a bad start to a discussion. We also discuss how going to bed early could lead to less sleep.

Intimacy in marriage is so important that we include a Hot & Heavy, PG-rated tip every week to encourage couples in that area. If you want to improve intimacy in your marriage, you’re going to have to discuss it with your spouse. The best approach to discuss intimacy is to use the 5-W’s: who, what, where, when, and why.

On a scale of 1 to 10 with ten representing marital bliss and 1 meaning it’s hanging on by a thread, how would you rate the health and wellbeing of your marriage? How would your spouse rate it? There are a couple of rules you’ll need to follow when assessing and discussing the ‘actual’ state of your marriage: Assume Nothing, Stay Focused, and Be Flexible.

Sometimes it’s the basics of life that serve as a great foundation for a thriving marriage such as the absolute confidence that you will always be there for each other. We’ll bring back a 1971 song to encourage you in this area. We also talk about whipped cream and chocolate syrup in the Hot & Heavy discussion.

We all know the saying, “If it ain’t broke...don’t fix it.” If you apply that rule to your business, in time you will likely no longer be able to attract customers. We just saw this with the demise of Sears. The same is true in marriage because we change, our likes and dislikes change, and what we enjoyed in our 20’s is likely not achievable or as enjoyable today. If we want our marriages to stay desirable and attractive to our spouse, we may need to change a couple of things.

Part 1: ‘Open Arms’ by Journey is the story of a couple who drifted apart, then separated, and but now the husband is asking his wife to try and make it work, “So here I am with open arms hoping you’ll see what your love means to me.” If your spouse is willing to talk, willing to sincerely try,…maybe your willingness to also try or try again is the right answer. Part two: how Dating Apps are killing the Dating Scene

A “me-tooer” always has a similar story or similar experience no matter the subject. If you’re always playing the role of the “me-tooer” you may not know it, but you’re actually sucking the life out of the conversation, not contributing to it. No relationship is threatened more by the “me-tooer” than the relationship with his/her spouse. Over time, the spouse will quit sharing their own experiences which leads to separation and eventually the end of the relationship.

A permanent truce or avoidance from talking about tough topics can ultimately destroy your marriage. However, a temporary truce can actually lead to a solution. Learn the difference in this segment. In the Hot & Heavy portion of the segment we discuss breaking your intimacy time into two phases separated by an overnight break.

A standard tool in business is a S.W.O.T. analysis. It’s when you identify the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of and to your business. You then put into place a plan to take advantage of the strengths, and opportunities and to reduce your weaknesses and any potential threats. The same analysis is a great tool for taking a marriage to the next level.

Sports fans are often more competitive than the athletes themselves, especially when it comes to defending their teams. Spouses can be just as competitive with each other, especially when defending their opinions. In this segment we discuss: How to Avoid Turning Your Spouse Into Your Competition…

When it comes to celebrating sports teams, fans get a bit crazy. The sports merchandise industry recently topped $48 billion. When it comes to celebrating our marriages, we can get a bit crazy too. An estimated $18 billion was spent on Valentine's Day. Unfortunately, unlike celebrating sports, celebrating our marriages is often a forced or mandatory event. On the flip side, when your celebration is voluntary, a basic marriage becomes a great marriage.

Does your wife cry about your marriage? There are typically three areas that cause a wife to cry about her marriage. If you want to divorce proof your marriage…make your wife cry tears of joy in three areas. In this segment we discuss all three. In the Hot & Heavy discussion we discuss patience.