We celebrate our 11th anniversary one week from today. My wife and I were talking recently about how far we’ve come. We also celebrated the fact that we’re doing it—we are thriving in our marriage. We are more in love now than ever before. When I look back on the times I was selfish, I realize I was always expecting things to be reciprocated, always putting my needs first. I wasn’t paying attention to the signs, and I was creating narratives in my head that weren’t true. I wasn’t communicating correctly, and it was hurting our marriage. We’ve never been married before, and we’ve never had kids before, so it was uncharted territory for both of us. Bringing a new dynamic and new stress into your marriage is very unexpected. You can read all the books you want and study the love languages, but if you don’t put those things into daily action, they’re useless. I knew what we were going through was probably normal, and it was very clear what was causing it. The biggest change came when we both put our egos and pride aside and focused on each other. My wife and I both come from divorced families, and we’ve seen many marriages fail among our family and friends. When you’re in that environment and you see so many marriages fail, you can’t help but think yours may be inevitably cursed as well. We never got to a point where it was going to be over soon, but we both had a fear that one day it would be. Well, that “one day” is now, and because we worked on our marriage, we didn’t do what the failed marriages we saw did. Instead, we started working as a team, and we became closer and more in love than ever. I am by no means a marriage expert, just like I am by no means a parenting expert. But I do strive to be successful in both areas of my life. They are my #1 priority, and I will set boundaries with anyone who interferes. When you set those types of intentions for your life, you will start reaping the benefits. A selfish person will not thrive in marriage or as a parent. It’s not about you anymore. But having this mentality and perspective will give your life such abundance. Kill the ego. Kill the pride. Strive to be the best version of yourself for your family.