Are you looking for ways to make your marriage more…
Take the Challenge!
21 actionable exercises to help you process your life together.
Hey there, Sally and Rick here. After sharing more than 25 married years together – seeing what works (and what doesn’t) – we put together a process to help you intentionally grow a partnership marriage!
Do any of these descriptions feel familiar?
Newly married
We’re newly married and love being in love! We don’t want to lose that connection! How can we make it last?
Married and still two
We’ve been married for awhile, with no kids and focusing on our careers, but plateauing in our relationship.
Parenting little ones
We have young children. What can we do to use the little time we have to intentionally focus on each other?
Parenting bigger ones
We have teenagers and have been so distracted by parenting that we’ve forgotten how to relate to each other. We miss each other!
Recent Empty Nesters
We have an empty nest, and just realized we might not have paid much attention to our relationship. Can we get that lovin’ feeling back?
Married Again
We have been married before, (at least one of us). We want to avoid what happened the first time around. We need some ideas for a different outcome.
What will you learn in the Partnership Challenge?
We will be sharing ideas and activities that can help you move toward a partnership style relationship… BUT, it’s you who will have to do the actual work. Here are a few concepts we hope you’ll have a clearer understanding of when you finish the challenge:
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Plan your life together (or other people and events will).
Time is limited. Our culture is full of overly maxed out people with no space in the calendars to add anything else, sometimes including time for each other. There is freedom when you learn to say “no”.
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Quantity of time is as important as quality.
Growing a relationship based on building a dream together requires time, both for planning and to practice communicating with and loving each other.
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Good communication skills take practice and intentionality.
We’ve built in several tasks that will challenge you to talk through topics that are easy and some that are difficult. Communicate in order to learn to communicate better!
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What makes each of you tick?
Learning more about your personalities, ways of communicating love, and strengths will give you a better understanding about who you are and why each of you operate the way you do.
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Fun activities to do together – with a purpose!
We’ll be encouraging you to think creatively and try some new things together so neither of you can ever say you’re bored or don’t have anything in common!
What’s included in this Partnership Challenge?
The 21-Day Partnership Challenge was created as a relationship investment tool. This isn’t a marriage retreat or counseling, but instead a preemptive strategy to help grow a more intimate, trusting marriage over the long haul.
21 Tasks
We’ve created a pdf containing all 21 tasks that you can download all at once. Plan them on days that work for both of you. Each task takes between 15-60 minutes to complete.
Private Facebook Group
You will have exclusive access to a Facebook community where we will discuss coursework and trade ideas with your fellow classmates.
Recommendations
Included in several of the tasks are resource suggestions for the couple who want to go deeper.
Benefits of a Partnership Marriage
What if there was something called a partnership marriage, where you could:
- Work toward your life goals together.
- Be more confident talking about scary things like money or sex.
- Figure out together what you should say “No” and Yes” to.
- Develop deeper respect and trust one another.
- Disagree, and then resolve it without blowing up.
- Have fun doing things you enjoy together.
Would you believe it exists? Would you both want to go there if you had a road map?
Make Time For Your Love!
You may be thinking, “Do we have the time to spend on this?”
Maybe the better question is “What can we remove from our lives to make time for our relationship?” Truth is, for the time it takes to binge watch season two of Netflix whatever, you could be growing a stronger relationship.
“18 years ago Carla and I started the journey of marriage with aspirations of weaving the adventures of love, work, play, and parenthood together. We found many role models and resources for how to play and parent together, but found a relatively empty shelf where folks were trying to work or create side by side with their partner. We realized the path we wanted was filled with challenges and inconveniences fairly unexplored or only realized by those with supernatural powers and fortune.
Sally and Rick Kennedy have been one of those rare couples we have looked up to for almost two decades pioneering this hard, but wonderful road well. Their 21-day challenge jump started our dream and gave us excellent tools to help navigate the challenges and inconveniences along the way as we seek to work side-by-side with a deep and rich love.”
~ Matt & Carla
“We looked forward to getting the emails with their lighthearted tone and thoughtful questions. The discussion questions were focused and yet open-ended, and they facilitated reflection and conversations that we otherwise might not have made space for. What a wonderful way to grow closer together!”
~ Cate & Logan
“After doing the 21 day challenge we were able to realize how busy and distracted we allow ourselves to get. It was a breath of fresh air to reestablish some of our avenues of communication and connection. One of our favorite days was making a meal together.
To do something that usually feels like a chore and turn it into a date that requires teamwork reenergized us. We were so grateful for that and highly recommend taking on this challenge.”
~ Emily & Andy
“Katie and I have been dating for over two years, and we decided to try out the 21 day challenge at the very beginning of our relationship in order to foster good habits early on. We are both so grateful for this experience, and would hardly call it a challenge!
It feels wonderful to be able to connect/reconnect with your partner when you both have busy lives! This is something I would recommend to any couple, and something I would definitely do more than once because you can always find new things to do and talk about! Thank you Love Plus Work!”
~ Kate & Katie
Share the Partnership Challenge.
Do you know a couple looking to grow a partnership relationship?
Whether newly married or getting ready to be empty nesters, relationships are dynamic and always changing. If you know another couple who would appreciate a pack of relational goodies to help grow closer together, share this Partnership Challenge with them!
Is this Partnership Challenge right for you?
YOU BET!
- YOU WILL MAKE THE TIME.
You understand that investing time with each other – like working out and eating healthy – grows a healthy relationship too. - YOU’RE BOTH ONBOARD.
You know it takes two to tango, and you’re ready to roll! If you’re committed, your communication will improve as you go. - YOU’RE NOT IN CRISIS MODE.
This Challenge can help draw you closer and will encourage you to work together as long as you are starting with some basic communication skills in place.
NOT SO MUCH.
- YOU CAN’T AFFORD THE TIME.
If you’re both maxed out, with no extra time, and no willingness to cut back on your current schedule, this is not for you. - ONLY ONE OF YOU IS INTERESTED.
This Challenge is not for people who might be interested, but know already their other half will not participate. - YOU’RE IN TROUBLE.
If communication is already strained and it’s difficult to even talk to each other, you may want to think about professional marriage counseling instead.
FAQs
Is this like marriage counseling?
Whoa, DEFINITELY NOT. If you’re having issues with the inability to communicate, infidelity, addictions – or for any reason are on the brink of separation – contacting a licensed therapist is your best bet. This Challenge is designed for couples who are both interested in improving communication to help them work together and share more intimacy.
How do we get started?
If you both agree to take the Challenge, just click here to scroll down to the bottom of the page where you can enter your information and download the course instantly.
How much does it cost?
We have made the Challenge completely free!
How long does the Challenge take to complete?
Since you’ll be downloading all of the tasks at once, you can complete them at your leisure and on your own schedule.
How long does each task take to complete?
After you decide together when to complete each task for that week, plan on 15 and 60 minutes to go through the PDF. That said, there are some tasks that include links to additional books, or online tests, to help give you a deeper understanding, if interested. So, yeah you could process some of these ideas for months together, (or even a lifetime)!
Will we have access to help if we get stuck or have questions?
Yes. We’ve set up a Partnership Challenge Facebook group, where we’ll answer questions (during specific, scheduled times over the Challenge), and where you’ll find other couples who are working on building their marriages stronger.
Are there any guarantees with this Challenge?
Nope. We can only put this information in your hands. It’s up to both of you to do something with it.
Do we get anything if we complete the Challenge?
Yes: An intentional mindset with new, (or revisited), ideas to build your life together, and maybe a new set of habits that can help you grow a partnership marriage. Yay!
Rick & Sally Kennedy
We are Rick and Sally – an ordinary couple sharing life together in both marriage and business. Over Twenty-five years ago we said “I do” standing next to each other on a family farm. Five years later, we slid two desks together in a spare bedroom of our newly-mortgaged bungalow, to begin another adventure of running a design business with two small children running under foot.
We’ve learned some things over the years after talking with countless couples, through trial and error, and from numerous resources like books, movies, music, podcasts, etc… that have helped us grow a partnership marriage.
We think they could help you too.
Download the Challenge!
All 21 tasks in a convenient PDF, ready for you download, print and work through. Free!
Disclaimers:
The 21-Day Partnership Challenge is just that, a challenge. It is not professional counseling. It is not guaranteed to “fix” your relationship if you’re having serious struggles. The information and ideas we’re sharing are based on our own experience of being married 25 years, and of interviewing a number other couples who are happy about being married to each other.
Our hope is to help couples draw closer to each other by giving them some fresh ways of communicating with and understanding each other. Obviously, we can’t guarantee that any particular couple who commits to taking the Challenge will find it to be the right solution for them. However, the couples we know who are committed to spending the time and effort to learn how to communicate with each other are the ones who are rocking this whole marriage gig.
In other words, we have a few ideas, but the hard work and time commitment are up to you!