Praise for The 80/80 Marriage
Beautifully written and illustrated and brilliantly argued; any couple reading this will find themselves guided into new and challenging possibilities for their relationship, which if they take seriously and practice faithfully, will surely transform their consciousness, alter their behavior, and fulfill their dreams. We heartily encourage all couples to read it with an open mind and a willing heart.
Harville Hendrix, PhD, and Helen LaKelly Hunt, PhD, authors of Getting the Love You Want
The core insight of this book is of vital importance: good marriages depend on virtues beyond fairness. Equality is not enough: only generosity will do. And a narrow focus on equality can get in the way. Nate and Kaley have written a book with important lessons not only for marriages, but partnerships and communities of all kinds.
Stephen Macedo, Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Politics at Princeton University and author of Just Married
Nate and Kaley Klemps The 80/80 Marriage offers a new model of marriage for a new generation of couples. Instead of arguing over fairness, they call for a shift to a mindset of radical generosity. Instead of asking, Whats best for me? they call for a shift to a spirit of shared success. Its the perfect step-by-step guidebook for making relationships work in the modern agenot just at home, but throughout all of our lives.
Chip Conley, New York Times bestselling author, strategic adviser to Airbnb, and founder of the Modern Elder Academy
Kaley and Nate take a headlong dive, fearlessly and with humor, into the assumptions underlying the modern marriage. Drawing on recent research and a wide range of personal interviews, they help us see why so many of our views of how marriage ought to work are flawed. The prescription they arrive at leaves lots of room for our different personalities and inclinations, but its core premiseputting us before me and youis compelling and inspiring.
Barry Boyce, founding editor of Mindful magazine and Mindful.org
The 80/80 Marriage offers an original framework for thinking about marriage success based on a fundamental spirit of generosity. Its worked for us!
Lauren Smart, retired finance executive, and Dr. Geoff Smart, chairman of ghSMART and New York Times bestselling author of Who and Power Score
Entrepreneurs and busy professionals face the constant challenge of trying to achieve success at work while also staying connected to their partners at home. The 80/80 Marriage offers a powerful solution. Its a practical guide for creating a new mindset and structure in marriage built to handle the pressures of real life.
Brad Feld, cofounder of the Foundry Group, and coauthor (with his wife, Amy Batchelor) of The Startup Life
[The 80/80 Marriage] will take your marriage to the next level!
Tommy Spaulding, New York Times bestselling author of The Heart-Led Leader
VIKING
An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
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Copyright 2021 by Nate Klemp and Kaley Klemp
Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.
A Penguin Life Book
library of congress cataloging-in-publication data
Names: Klemp, Nathaniel J., 1979 author. | Klemp, Kaley, author.
Title: The 80/80 marriage : a new model for a happier, stronger relationship / Nate Klemp, PhD, and Kaley Klemp.
Other titles: The eighty marriage
Description: New York : Penguin Life, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020024766 (print) | LCCN 2020024767 (ebook) | ISBN 9781984880772 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781984880789 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Marriage. | Married peoplePsychology. | Intimacy (Psychology) | Communication in marriage.
Classification: LCC HQ734 .K624 2021 (print) | LCC HQ734 (ebook) | DDC 306.81dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020024766
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020024767
Some names and identifying characteristics have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals involved.
Cover design: Matt Vee
pid_prh_5.6.1_c0_r0
To Margi, Joe, Judy, and Jim,our models of love
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
It all started with a pair of smelly running shoes.
When we first moved in together at the age of twenty-four, Nate used to leave his running shoes piled up by the front door. Each day, hed casually walk into the condo and kick them off, sending them flying across the floor to land randomly in a clump near the doormat.
One day, after a week of living together, Nate went to grab his shoes. But they were gone. He searched the closets, the garage, the porch, and the garbage can. No luck.
Have you seen my shoes? he asked Kaley.
I told you, it drives me crazy when I walk into the house and trip over them. I feel like your maid and thats not fair. So now youre going to have to find them, she said.
Annoyed by this game of hide-and-seek, Nate continued his search. Twenty minutes later, after rummaging through the entire condo, he found them tucked away on the top shelf of the kitchen cabinets, those high-up shelves above the refrigerator ordinarily reserved for useless appliances.
Now Nate was pissed. He charged into Kaleys office. Are you serious? I just spent twenty minutes trying to find my shoes.
Kaley swung around in her office chair. I told you, it drives me nuts when you dont put your shoes away. And its not my job to put away your crap.
One week in and the fight for fairnessthe fight over whos doing more and whos doing less, who cares more and who cares lesshad begun.
From Shoe Drama to In-law Drama
As the years passed, Nate learned to put away his shoes. But soon, new and more complex conflicts emerged.
After getting married at the age of twenty-six, we would travel home during every holiday season to spend time with both sets of parents in Colorado. To make things fair, we brokered a time-sharing deal that seemed like a stroke of genius: Nates parents got Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Kaleys parents got the three to four days after Christmas. Since Nates family got the two holidays, Kaleys family got the next two days plus a you-missed-the-real-holiday bonus day or two for not getting Christmas. The deal seemed perfectly fair. Quid pro quo.
There was only one problem with this bargain: it left open the question of the exact, down-to-the-minute time we left Nates familys house on Christmas night. From an outsiders perspective, it seems so trivial. Who cares whether you leave at six p.m. or seven p.m.? But one Christmas morning, the question turned nuclear.
Id really like to be in the car by six so that we make it to my familys house before everybody goes to sleep, Kaley said.