My wife is annoyed by our 10% deal. I’m so glad.

My friend and I struck a deal about ten years ago at the poker table.

In the unlikely event that either one of us earns one million dollars or more on a single deal, he will give the other 10 percent of the earnings.

At the time, I had yet to publish a novel. I was a third grade teacher dreaming of someday becoming the next great American novelist.

He was also a teacher at the time, but he was also a property manager, slowly accumulating real estate.

It was exceptionally unlikely that either of us would earn that much money on a single transaction. It remains exceptionally unlikely.

Still, my wife thinks it’s a terrible deal and was annoyed that I made it. She still doesn’t like the deal at all.

I love that. 

Imagine the amount of confidence (unjustified and misguided as it may be) that she must have in me in order to even think that I could earn a million dollars someday.

I work hard and strive to achieve goals for many, many reasons, but mostly, I do it to impress my wife.