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Stress makes communication hard

How to Manage Stress in Relationship Communication: Keep Calm with Scientific Stress Management

Not enough time to exercise, boss pushing for work to be completed, children are loud, bills to pay, shopping to be done, housework to do, partner asking for your help. To top it all off you’re suppose to be nice to people by communicating effectively with them in a confrontation? Yeah right!

Why Stress Makes Communication Difficult

You find it hard to communicate in stressful moments. So do I. There’s a reason why it is hard to listen and not yell in tough situations that all relationships face. Science proves it is near impossible for you to communicate well when under stress. Read more

Young woman shouting

Principles and Tips to Deal with Difficult People

The investigative in-law. The bossy boss. The crying child. The nasty neighbor. The cranky colleague. You may prefer to categorize them all as “jerks”. The list of “jerks” that make life miserable go on. Fortunately, there are principles and tips to help you deal with difficult people.

Principles do not change. Water is two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom – this will not change. The North poles of two magnets repel – this will not change. Gravity rips you down to Earth – this will not change. The unchanging laws of science are parallel to the unchanging principles and laws of communication to deal with difficult people.

If you have a difficult person in your life, you may think he or she is impossible to deal with, yet the person is not an impenetrable rock. It’s human! And humans follow laws of psychology and behavior you can benefit from. This article will provide you with judo-like principles to convert seemingly impossible forces of a difficult person into tips to effectively deal with them. Read more

Couple arguing with therapist

4 Reasons Advice and Other Solutions Kill Relationships

Orders, better ways of doing things, and simple suggestions – these are solutions you likely send to people, which kills your relationship with them. A solution may appear harmless on the surface, yet in this article I’ll dig deep into why your solutions are not only ineffective at changing people, but also killing the emotional lives of people you touch.

“Hang out the washing”, “Stop moping around and cheer up”, “Fix what you broke”, “You need to improve your skills with customers”, “Get a new attitude”, “Obey your mother and father”. There are four reasons why such statements kill your relationships. Read more

The nonviolent communication logo

The Complete Nonviolent Communication (NVC) Process for Compassion, Understanding, and Peace

You are about to unlock what I believe is the greatest human need in communication. I will show you how to connect with another human in the most intimate way possible – a way most never experience. This is something the world so desperately needs. It is something you so desperately need.

What is the link between the following scenarios:

  1. Your partner leaves the room in anger after another argument
  2. A friend lashes out at you despite you having done nothing wrong
  3. A child’s constant disobedience makes you frustrated and causes you to yell things you later regret

Thousands of situations like the ones above all have a common thread that play out in your life every year. There is a better way to handle the situation, but you cannot figure it out. Your emotions get the better of you and others as you poorly handle the situation. The answers and the secret human need I will show you how to fulfill is through a method of communication called “nonviolent communication”, also known as NVC. Read more

The decision tree with business leader

How to Delegate Responsibility to Anyone with the Decision Tree of Effective Leadership

When you think of delegation and getting other people to do tasks without you watching their every move, do you only think of leadership in business? Book after book has been written on delegation at work. Your ability to delegate is a powerful skill to learn to help with raising children, working with service staff like cleaners, and everyday decision-making.

This article is beyond business to help you empower anybody to make decisions on their own while not subjecting anyone to the pain of a control freak. You learn how to avoid turning yourself into a cantankerous, controlling individual while still getting things done. Read more

Couple argue as girl looks on

How to Love People: The Heart of Effective Communication

You hear from teachers, counselors, relationship experts, self-help experts, or religion, that you should love people – or at least love your family, friends, and others you value. We know, it’s not that easy! It’s hard to love someone you hate or who hurts you. At times you would rather punch a family member in the face to knock them out.

Carl Rogers, a pioneering psychologist in the 1950s on human relations, said love, genuineness, and empathy are three essential pieces to constructive communication. Many studies since then support Rogers’ theory. When we fail to love people, we fail to communicate in a way that supports ourselves and people. Love is the core of powerful communication. Think about it for a moment and I’m sure your experiences confirm love is the heart of effective communication.

It is unfortunate we are not taught how to love people. Instead of learning how to love, we learn to fight. Instead of learning how to love, we learn to defend ourselves. Instead of learning how to love, we learn to get our point across in a debate. It is no wonder society is deprived of the core energy that drives humanity.

This article will help you love people more. Read more

Mother teaching child how to listen

Teaching Your Child Listening Skills

A belief is floating around that says children today are ruder, more ignorant, and generally less respectful of their elders than they were in pre-electronic device days. “Parents often talk about the younger generation as if they didn’t have anything to do with it”, said pioneering child psychologist Haim Ginott.

Are children’s listening skills declining as a side effect of the 21st century? More importantly, does a child of yours languish in poor listening and what can you do to improve their listening skills? Read more

Father points his finger at his worried son

The Four Parenting Styles in Passive, Aggressive, and Assertive Behavior

Here’s the most common parenting question I get asked, which is a major parenting misconception: Is there one correct way to raise a child? The answer is there is no one right way to raise a child. Like buying a car, becoming friends with your neighbors, or hanging out your clothes to dry, there is no single way to raise a healthy-minded, love-filled, successful child.

Having said that, there are four parenting styles you need to be aware of when raising a child, which explain the best parenting styles for a child. How you use a parenting style is up to your judgment. No single correct way to use the styles exists because there are too many variables in parenting and your child.

The four parenting styles based on research in parenting are: Read more