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Welcome back to another episode of the 200% Marriage Podcast. Nailed it. Nice work. First try. Thank you. Last week we talked about how we are reading the book, The 200% Marriage, and we talked about the cover and the testes and the table of contents and all the things leading up to and the foreword.

And now we're at part one, chapter one, and after we read the chapter, we're gonna dive in and talk about some of the funny shit in the book and behind the scenes chit chat. Behind the scenes. Behind the scenes stuff. ── So we're gonna read the book in the way we wrote the chapters.

So any chapter Mer wrote, she's gonna read any chapter I wrote. I'm gonna read, ─ I happened to write chapter one. So you, we'll start with you. So we're getting me today.

Part one. You are here. ──── You gotta go down a lot of wrong roads to find the right one. Bob Parso ───────────── chapter one. What the fuck are we doing here? ──

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I've ended up where I needed to be. Douglas Adams. ──── Congratulations. You made it to page one. That's a big milestone. We're not joking. Starting anything is always the hardest part. Whether it's a workout, a business, or, Yes, reading a relationship book, you have to pick up the book.

You have to turn to page one. ─ Every journey starts with a single step. ─ We don't celebrate taking that first step enough. It's important to celebrate the start. ─ Who says you should only celebrate the end of something? ─ You don't get to the end without starting, and you, my friend, have officially started.

That is our first celebration together, but it won't be our last. ───── That's gonna be a theme in this book. We're going to celebrate a lot together on this journey because, well, as you're gonna see, there's a lot to celebrate and celebrating builds momentum. It supercharges you to keep progressing. ─ So we celebrate you.

And the beginning of this beautiful journey we're about to take together and this lovely new relationship that we're forming. ─ Did we just become best friends? ───── Since this is the beginning of our fantastic new relationship, this is probably a good time to go over a few things. ─ First, we are not your typical relationship coaches.

We do things a little differently around here, and this is not your typical how to save your marriage in 12 easy steps relationship book. ─ We're going to make the process of reconnecting a lot more enjoyable. We don't do stuffy. We also don't pretend that we never swear. Especially Mer. She's like a sailor.

So fair warning, we will say the occasional swear word. We left you a clue in the chapter title. If that offends you, you may wanna put this book down now. ── However, if you're not offended by swear words, then this will be a fun ride. ── If you're still here, ─ you're probably our people. ── Which brings me to the second point. ─

We prioritize fun. ─ It is a non-negotiable for marriage and this book, ─ if you're allergic to fun or if you're just a plain old stick in the mud and you don't wanna have any fun while making your marriage the best it's ever been and crushing life together with your best friend, this is your last exit ramp ── still here? ─

Then you must wanna reconnect with your person on a level you weren't even sure was possible. Transform your marriage forever and have a lot of fun while doing it. ─── So with that outta the way, we're gonna make a few assumptions. I know a dangerous game, but as we just covered, we like to party and we live on the wild side, so we're gonna do it anyway. ─

Since you're still here, I assume you likely also have a wild streak like to party and you probably fit into one of these five categories, ─ 1. ─ You're married, things are okay, but you can feel something is missing in your marriage.

You may not be quite sure what exactly and you want more. ─── 2. You're married, ─ things are not okay. One or both of you is flat out unhappy, and you're worried your marriage isn't going to survive unless things change. ──── 3. You're not married yet. ── You wanna stack the deck in your favor when you do say, I do, you want joy, adventure, and a true partner in crime to go do big goals with. ───── 4. Your our moms or another family member? ─

And you're curious if you've been mentioned ───── FYI. Not everything is about you, but there is also a better than zero chance you have been, and we love you. ──5. Somebody gave you this book as a gift and you have no idea what the fuck you're doing here. You were warned. ─── Whatever category you're in, we welcome you. You are in the right place, and let's be real. You're already further along than most people ever get because most adults don't open a single book all year.

I'd give you the actual stats, but then I'd have to cite sources and create a bibliography. And honestly, that's the crappy, boring stuff about writing a book that doesn't add value to you. You don't care and I don't care. So that's it for the boring stats stuff. I just wanna highlight your badassness right outta the gates.

Another celebration. ────── If you fall into one of those first two categories above, ─ we want you to know you're not alone. ────── You also need to know you're not broken. Most of us aren't taught this relationship stuff in school, but hey, at least they hammered home. The difference between an obtuse and an isosceles triangle, super handy life skill, ──── and you probably weren't taught this stuff at home either. ───

If you did grow up with role models, who knocked this relationship thing out of the park? Congratulations. You hit the jackpot. ── Hug your parents immediately. Better yet, hug them regardless. If they're still around, they probably deserve it. ───

But if your experience was like ours, your parents were winging it just like their parents before them, white knuckling their way through till death do us part. ─── No shame in that. It just means you get to write a new script. ──── That's where we come in. We're gonna get a little vulnerable and tell you about our experience.

Sometimes it'll be funny, sometimes it will be messy, but it will always be honest and real. Not because this book is about us. It's definitely not, but because we want you to see that if we can do this, anyone can do this, including you. ───── You should also know there are two of us writing this thing. We tried to make it obvious by including both our names on the front cover. You are going to hear both of our stories. You are going to hear both of our voices. We're going to be switching back and forth when it's appropriate. We'll always make the transitions clear so you know whose voice you can't shake in any given moment. ──

I'm Craig. This has been my voice, Meredith. Mer for short is my beautiful wife, business partner, and best friend in the world. She's also my co-author for both this beautiful story we're writing together called Life and this fun book you hold in your hands. ─ So without further ado, she's going to take the mic for chapter two and tell you a little bit about how she got so messed up.

I mean here, ─ how she got here. ─

So chapter one. Chapter one in the books. Chapter one in the books. How did it fail to read it out loud? Good. I think it's a strong opening. I think it sets the tone that, we're, we're doing things a little differently. Mm-hmm. And I think that is,─ that is woven throughout this book. I'm cool with the, the opening chapter.

I think it's, it really does set a tone. I think it sets a tone too. And I, every time I read it, every time I hear it, it brings me back to Big white, the mountain on Big White where we wrote it. Like that first cha, I don't know what it is, but the first chapter, but it brings me right back there and ─ I just, I'm really grateful that that's where we, that we ended up.

We didn't intend to end up living on the side of a ─ ski mountain for the month of June, but it ended up being just the perfect place. ─ There was nobody around, like quiet. It was quiet. There wasn't hardly any other human beings. And for that month, we just put our heads down. ─── Divided and conquered and wrote the book and we mm-hmm.

We did it in like a five to six week period of time. It just,─ it just came out of us. Yeah. Like more easily, more quickly, more, I don't wanna say effortlessly 'cause obviously it was work, but it just spilled out. It felt like it was there just ready to come out. So the writing of it was, was fun. Well, I, and we learned a quote as we were writing the book is,

no book is due before it's time. Mm-hmm. And I think the fact that we were ─── so ready to let the words come out of us into the computer. I think it's just a testament to how it was the right time mm-hmm. To write the book ─── and it just kind of flowed out of us. ─

Mm-hmm. It's funny, when I wrote this chapter, I just started writing. I didn't really know exactly where it was gonna go. Kind of like Michael Scott. You started a sentence not knowing how it was gonna end.

Yeah, it was kind of like, I don't know where this is gonna go, but I do want to set the intention and the tone that this book is going to be different, 'cause we knew we wanted to write a relationship book that was. ─ More entertaining. Mm-hmm. And more fun than your average relationship book.

More like us. Yeah. Like, mm-hmm. And yeah, that's the thing. We wanted it to be very, very in tune with us and set that expectation up front to the reader of, you've just picked up a relationship book. I don't know what you thought you were getting, ── but there's going to be some swearing. There's going to be some fun had here. ─

So that's not what you're looking for. Go find another book. Mm-hmm.

And──────── I also wanted to put the joke in here about our family, because I know that. ── For both of us. You know, it's something, and we're gonna get into it in the coming chapters because when you share your story, it's not just your story. Yeah. You're sharing other people's messy parts too. Mm-hmm. Because they overlap.

Know that the little, the Little joke to our moms, it's, yeah, you're in here. Mm-hmm. Not everything's about you, but yes, you're in here. We love, we love you. Moms, dads, everybody. Everyone. Yeah. The whole family.

─────And setting the tone of, you know, orienting people to who we are, what we're about, and then also how this book, is formatted, in that , it's kind of back and forth. There's no rhyme or reason to which chapter.

Like we don't go, I do a chapter, you do a chapter, I do a chapter. You do a chapter. Just which one seemed to it, just whatever flowed and whatever was the right one for us. Yeah. Knowing that ─ we will make the transitions clear, but you're gonna hear two different voices.

There's gonna be two voices here. Mm-hmm. And I think we did a really good job. I think we fulfill on that promise pretty well. ──────The process of writing it was, was fun and interesting for us.

I think that part was smooth and easy and it was exciting. I think when it got less exciting and more sort of like gritty and the rubber hit the road was the editing and the formatting and, you know, the sort of less glorious, the, there's less glory in those pieces. But we did them, and it was a huge learning for us.

But the, the actual writing, I just, I'm really. ─ Proud of how we approached it with fun and enjoyment, and therefore it seemed to flow quite easily with fun and enjoyment. So the whole writing the book, I'm really proud of how that happened.

And we set the tone for a joke. We're gonna see throughout. Not to ruin it or anything, but, there's a thread woven throughout. We wanted to start the joke in the first chapter and carry it kind of through the entire book. All the way to the very, very end of the book. Like literally the, the last page. And then, acknowledging that ─── this is hard, relationships are hard, but, you know, we're not, we're not taught this stuff. ─────

It's not your fault. There's no shame in that where you are. There's no shame in that. Any of it that, you know, recognizing that we don't know what we don't know, but doing the work to figure out how to move the needle and make it better for ourselves. And that's what it's all about. And that's what this book is all about. and that's another reason that we make the book fun and funny is you're more likely to lean in and continue to read it and continue doing the work if you're actually enjoying the process.

That was chapter one. Next week ─ we are going into chapter two and Mer's gonna take the mic and tell her story.

Don't you dare settle for fine. We'll see you next week. Bye

If you want to turn your marriage into the engine that drives your business forward instead of the brakes keeping it stuck, book a free marriage and business strategy session with us at 200percentmarriage.com/strategycall. We'll see you next week.