3 reasons why you should probably listen to your partner's advice

It's the first week of 2024 and I plan to work out, record and publish my first vodcast and get to work attacking career goals I have at a job I love. All of this is because I listened to my partner's advice. No, this isn't a relationship or marriage newsletter, but they say "Write what you know." I know these five gentle nudges from my partner have allowed me to grow professionally.

Welcome to my monthly newsletter: Learn to Love Uncomfortable. Back 15-plus years ago, I was faced with a life or death decision -- go on with the way I was living and surely die or pick up some suggestions laid at my feet and live a life better than anything I could have imagined. I chose to take suggestions and part of that was taking some uncomfortable actions.

Slowly but surely, I learned to be comfortable being uncomfortable. I was a collegiate-level wrestling coach for many years and one of my favorite coach-speakisms was "Lean into discomfort. That's where growth happens." Recently I found myself consistently running from discomfort.

Below are a few examples of suggestions my wife made to me that I reluctantly took.

Moving on from your dream job

Seven months ago, I made the difficult decision to leave my position as a head coach at the collegiate level. It was a position that was my dream job. I'd completely changed my career trajectory and had been working toward this for the five previous years. I left a 13-year journalism career in exchange for a 4-year run in marketing and communications because I thought it would better translate to a head coaching job. It did, but after 18 months at my "dream job" as a head coach -- I was more lost than I'd ever been. I wasn't happy. I'd begun trading in my principles to get ahead in my position. The hours and pay were lousy. The support was non-existent. My wife suggested I apply to my current position. During this time I was a finalist for two other head coaching positions that didn't produce job offers. I felt uneasy being in a role that wasn't coaching because coaching had defined my professional passion for a considerable time. But I've settled into my new role with my new team and it is wonderful. The most important fact is that while my transition was uncomfortable at first -- I do not regret it for one second.

Knowing your capabilities

I consider myself a very confident person. Not cocky or arrogant, but steadfast in my abilities. I've been struggling recently with body image, weight gain and a lack of motivation to change. When you're designing workouts and doing the exercises along with your athletes as a coach -- you don't have to do a lot of extra work. I've been completely averse to working out and eating right. One day I was complaining to my wife and she hit me between the eyes with the old, "I've seen you put your mind to something and achieve amazing things. So, get to work." Bam.

Stop talking about it and do it

I've wanted to do a podcast, vodcast or something along those lines for years. I put in a lot of hours driving and started listening to podcasts. I figured it would be fun to do my own. I looked into equipment and start-up costs and would always stop there. But my partner kept encouraging me. I would complain about how I didn't know what I was doing, I didn't have anything to say and make other excuses. The reality was that I was scared. But after constant support from her -- the Dominic Adams Podcast launches this week.