Negotiate your conflicting choices by first asking the reason for your partner’s preference. You may think your partner wants a particular kind of food, when s/he really likes the atmosphere or service at a particular restaurant.
People often get into trouble when they negotiate about how to solve a problem without really understanding the nature of the problem. When you discover the reason that your partner wants something, you may find that there are many different ways to satisfy that desire.
Your assignment, should you choose to accept it:
List several areas in which you have very different preferences. Examples: rock music/jazz, skiing/surfing, fine dining/fast food and adventure movies/romantic movies. Talk with each other about why you each like what you like.
This is an excerpt from Being Happy Together: How to Have a Fabulous Relationship With Your Life Partner in Less Than an Hour a Week, by Laurie Weiss, Ph.D.
[tags]Communication, Relationship Advice, Boundaries, Relationships[/tags]
written by Laurie Weiss
Make clear agreements about which of you will do which parts of a complicated task, like arranging a vacation. Check each item off your joint list as it is completed. Posting the list on the bathroom mirror or the refrigerator door works well.
Keeping each other informed about progress eliminates lots of questioning and tension. It also eliminates unpleasant surprises like discovering that each one of you thought that the other was responsible for an important part of the task.
Your assignment, should you choose to accept it:
Choose a project to work with for practice. Together, using sticky notes, make a list of all the things that need to be done to complete the project. Write each task on a separate sticky note, and divide the tasks by arranging the notes into separate lists. Be creative and have fun.
This is an excerpt from Being Happy Together: How to Have a Fabulous Relationship With Your Life Partner in Less Than an Hour a Week, by Laurie Weiss, Ph.D.
[tags]Tasks, Togetherness, Relationships, Communication, Relationship Advice[tags]
written by Laurie Weiss
