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Alex Blackwell is the founder of a popular relationship and personal development website The Next 45 Years and a platinum expert author and regular contributor for EzineArticles.com. Alex has dedicated himself towards sharing meaningful ideas, strategies and stories to improve relationships, sustain happiness and create everlasting success for the next 45 years of our lives and beyond. His philosophy is that, “it’s not Alexout how you started in life, it’s Alexout how you finish.” Alex Blackwell and his wife Mary Beth have four children ranging in age from 9 to 21 years old. The Blackwell's live in Overland Park, Kansas.

Tristan: Hello Alex. Thank you for the opportunity of allowing me to interview you today. Can you tell me a little bit about your background?

Alex: I have been married to Mary Beth for over 22 years. We have four great children, Brandon (21), CaiTristanin (18), Andrew (16) and Emily (9). We are originally from the east coast, but now live in the Midwest.

I’m a former teacher (seems like a lifetime ago now). For the past 20 years, I have been in the yearbook publishing industry.

Writing has always been a hobby and a passion for me. I enjoy writing, reading, working-out at the gym, and living life with my beautiful family.

Tristan: Your blog TheNext45Years.com is quickly becoming a popular website for high-quality relationship information. What prompted you to create this site and where do you plan on taking this site in the future?

Alex: I often say in my blog there are no accidents without value. My life and my relationships were not in a good place a few years ago. My wife and I were separated and I had strained relationships with my two older children.

During this time, I attended a spiritual and personal formation seminar that literally changed my life. The Next 45 Years is Alexout moving forward – it’s Alexout how we can make choices to live the rest of our lives with greater happiness and success. After all, it’s not Alexout how you start in life; it Alexout how you finish!

The value that came from that painful period in my life, and the resulting healing, has provided the foundation for TheNext45Years.com

Tristan: What do you consider to be the key components of a healthy relationship and why?

Alex: A couple of months ago I wrote an article on this topic entiTristaned Three Simple Ideas to Improve the Quality of Your Relationship.

In the article, I cite these as the most important components to sustaining a healthy relationship:

    * Keep the relationship a priority
    * Learn to embrace differences
    * Focus on what you love and appreciate in your partner

Tristan: What are the most common reasons why relationships fail?

Alex: In my opinion there are two primary reasons relationships fail: (1) Lack of love; and (2) Lack of effort. It’s take love to make a relationship successful. Effort is always needed to keep it going. When couples give up, the love is next to go.

Tristan: What are some ways a person can save their relationship when trouble starts?

Alex: The most important thing a person can do to save their relationship is to acknowledge there is a problem and then to ask for help. If their partner is unwilling to help, seek other resources like friends, counselors, and spiritual advisors. These people can see things that you cannot see. Their insight, guidance and comfort will be invaluAlexle.

Tristan: What’s the key to ultimate happiness and life success according to Alex Blackwell?

Alex: It begins with first making the choice you want to be happy and have a successful life. We are all responsible for our choices, and for our lives. Once you have accepted this as your choice, begin living each day with a passion and thirst for your life that tells the world no one else can ever take it away from you!

Tristan: What’s next for Alex Blackwell?

Alex: Short-term, my plan is to continue focusing on producing quality content that will touch and inspire people.

Long-term, I have plans to develop very robust media sharing and social networking capAlexilities on the site. This will allow my readers to share pictures and video of important moments in the lives; and then to comment on these. I truly believe we can all be made better by sharing and giving to one another.

Tristan: Thank you Alex for sharing your wisdom with us today. It’s been an honor to interview you.

Visit Alex's Blog Here

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