Why This Couple’s 6 Rules for Marital Success Are Going Viral

Ryan Stephens is a husband, father, and blogger at the site “Dialed in Men,” which he started in 2016 in order to pass along the things he’s learned to son so that he has all the tools he needs to navigate life. “The ultimate goal is an ever-growing, scientifically-based blueprint for him to have health, wealth and success—and for this site to be a resource for him if anything ever happened to us,” he writes, noting that much of his advice is applicable to all men in general. His posts cover a broad range of topics, such as how to be a good parent, how to get your finances in order, and how fight depression in today’s society. But it’s a recent blog post—which was actually written by his wife, Alaina—on his “six rules for marital success,” which is getting the most attention.

He shared the post in a thread on Twitter Tuesday night, and it’s been retweeted almost 9,000 times since then.

Their core message is that, contrary what rom-coms might have taught you, the “recipe for marital success” is “focusing more on being teammates and less on being soulmates.”

His first rule: “No one should ever hear anything bad about your spouse from you. It’s one thing to joke with friends about something trivial and quite another to demean your spouse’s character. Know the difference and always discuss the latter with your spouse and no one else.”

1.) No one should ever hear anything bad about your spouse from you.

It’s one thing to joke with friends about something trivial and quite another to demean your spouse’s character.

Know the difference and always discuss the latter with your spouse and no one else.

— Ryan Stephens