It has been just over four years since The Crystal Press went live and to say that we have learned a few things along the way would be the understatement of the century.  We have had our ups and downs, our laughs and luckily not too many tears and we wouldn’t change the experiences that we have had thus far on this adventure for anything.  We have learned some valuable lessons over the years and wanted to share some tips with you guys!

These tips don’t only apply to you if you are in a blogging partnership, but can also be used in your personal relationships, work collaborations and beyond. 

1. Know Your Strengths – I wouldn’t say that any of these rules is more important than the other, but this is definitely something that you need to establish ASAP.  In the beginning, we were so excited to be doing the damn thing and were concentrated on getting our content out into the world, that we didn’t really hone in on our individual strengths at the start.  However, we quickly realized that in order for this partnership to work we needed to know what each of us was best at in order to function on the day to day.  For us, I am more detail and logistically orientated, which means that I do a lot of the planning (daily and long term) because that makes me feel the most comfortable.  Catherine has a brilliantly creative mind, and helps us dream up our next projects, collaborations and adventures.  In the past few months, Catherine also introduced us to Human Design which has exponentially helped us learn how we work best together as well. Highly recommend looking into HD when working with a partner, as it sheds light on everything from your emotional capacity to your working habits.  (I am a projector and Cath is a Manifestor, it makes sense).
2. Communicate – This one seems like a no brainer, but it isn’t always as easy as you think! If you want to thrive in a partnership, you have to throw any passive aggressive tendencies out the window.  If you have any concerns, voice them.  Having your frustrations build up only to boil over will never end well.
3. Delegate – This one stems from figuring our your strengths and weaknesses. Once you have done that, delegating is much easier. Whether you have to specifically delegate certain tasks each day, week or month, or you come to an overall agreement about which tasks will usually be yours, this is oh so important. Wasting time texting, calling and emailing about who is going to do what can be an extraordinary waste of time!
4. Have Fun – DUH. Whether you are working on a personal relationship or a work one, you still need to make having fun a priority! Laugh. A lot. It really is good for the soul. Often times we get tied up worrying about deadlines, pushing content and scheduling our next moves it is easy to get caught up in the work of it all.  These are the times you have to remind yourself why you are doing what you are doing and take a moment to breathe and enjoy yourself.

If you have any other tips for thriving with a partner, leave ’em in the comments below!

Photos by Kenzi Creates