The Christmas season brings great expectations…and pressures. Whew! While on the phone for technical support a couple of days ago, a woman said she couldn’t wait until Christmas was over for another year. I didn’t want to agree with that sentiment, but I sure do understand it!
I sincerely hope you and your family had a great couple of weeks-and found some time to rest.
Because we have greater stress, we are more likely to have had some fractious encounters with loved ones!
It may be time to re-up on our conflict management skills!
Here are some tips from the highly regarded Psychologist John Gottman:
1) soft start up to any conflict that arises or that we must address
2) accept influence of others. Hear them and understand them.
3) use positive affect in the service of de-escalation
4) soothe yourself to stay calm
5) use apology and humor
6) create a dialogue. We don’t have to be “right”
How about picking just one of the above and working on it this new year?There’s amazing power in that kind of focussed effort!
Happy New Year!