Want a Long-Lasting Marriage? Make It Your Number One Priority.

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Chicago-based author Kim Strickland recently reached her milestone 25th wedding anniversary and in a recent article at Chicago Now, identified the secret to her and her husband’s success.

“We’ve always put our marriage first. Before everything and everyone else. Before careers and kids and houses and cities and even other family members. Team Kim and Jeff comes first.”

Strickland explains that she and her husband never made a decision without first assessing what the ramifications would be for the other. This meant turning down job and promotions that would have been good for one of them yet hazardous to both. As for prioritizing their marriage over their kids, the determination was that if the marriage was unhappy, the entire family would feel the effects.

Strickland knows it’s not feasible to keep going on frequent dates after baby makes three, and notes that that’s not what’s necessary for maintaining the marriage:

“I’m talking about being a unified front. About making time for each other on a daily basis, even if it’s only a five-minute phone conversation grabbed between flights, meetings or washing sippy cups.”

If you want to ensure a long-lasting marriage with your special someone, make sure you always acknowledge that wedding vows come first, everything else second. This means never taking a break from communication, never making a big decision without the other’s knowledge, and maybe — just maybe — buying some flowers every once in a while.