When you’re frustrated with a boss, employee, spouse, kid or another, how often do you approach a difficult conversation, “knowing” exactly how they will respond?
I know that you’re thinking, “Well it’s happened so many times before, you just know he’ll get aggressive, or she will stop talking to you, or he/she will just make life miserable until they decide to talk again”—right?
Worse yet, you know they won’t even hear you. It’s happened so many times before.
I got news for you—and some of my coaching clients will attest to this, when you go into a conversation so sure of the outcome—you’re predicting the end result, energetically putting that scenario out there and it’s highly unlikely anything different will happen.
What if…you approached an issue that needs to be addressed without being so sure of the outcome? If it always ends the same way, why not give it some space to result in a different outcome?
When you approach a conversation with the intention of having an adult-adult conversation (this doesn’t include your 3-year-old grandchild!) and expect the end-result to be a positive one, you have now shifted your energy into a new, more open space. And when you’ve given this difficult conversation space, there is room for the other person to respond differently. Remember the formula I’ve shared before?
E+R=O
The Events in your life + your Response to those events = the Outcome.
You get to choose what you expect. Why not expect a productive and positive outcome? It’s more “funner” that way!
I’d love to hear from you. Post below and tell me what your biggest challenge is in the next 30 days.
