Keeping Priorities in Order

Richard and Linda Eyre know firsthand the demands achievers face in their personal and professional lives. This busy couple has written numerous books, including Teaching Your Children Values, the first parenting book in 50 years to reach No. 1 on the New York Times Best Seller list. They’ve pursued challenging careers—Richard has launched three companies and served as the director of the White House Conference on Parents and Children; Linda is a musician, teacher and founder of worldwide preschool Joy Schools. Yet, their proudest achievements are their marriage of 40 years and keeping their family of nine intact—and a priority.

Not long out of school, the Eyres were troubled to see friends and colleagues succeeding in business but failing in their marriages and family life. The Eyres wanted to avoid that pattern in their own lives—and to help other people avoid it in theirs.

They began studying, writing and lecturing on parenting and family-prioritized life balance, and started developing new approaches to relationship goals. “I’ve seen very successful people set lofty, quantitative goals for their business, sales and income, but when it comes to their relationships, they tend to be vague. They say, ‘I just want to be a good spouse or a good dad.’ But no company would be successful if their leadership had such nonspecific goals as, ‘I just want to be a good CEO,’ ” Richard says.

In a six-week guest blog series starting Oct. 4 on blog.SUCCESS.com, the Eyres will share strategies for setting specific relationship goals and actionable steps to guide you in attaining them.

The Eyres have written more than 30 books, including Lifebalance (1997), Three Steps to a Strong Family (1995) and Teaching Your Children Joy (1994). Their new book, Parenting: The Entitlement Trap, is slated for release in October 2011.