Tag Archives: improving relationships

Reality Check: The Value of Support

Last post, I told a little story about Sally and her intent to invite a roommate to share her living space. Based on your knowledge of the situation, you anticipated that this arrangement wouldn’t work well. In other words, you … Continue reading

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Reality Check: If I Know What’s Right for You…

Do you know what’s right for someone else? It’s easy to think that we know exactly what someone should do, think, or feel. And then, it’s easy to tell them! Dr. William Glasser associates the “I-know-what’s-right-for-you” perspective with misery. In … Continue reading

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Reality Check: The Scorekeeping Relationship

Last time, I made a case for keeping score in our lives. Keeping track of data about how we spend our time, what we do with our money, or even how much we eat can be helpful. It provides us … Continue reading

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Reality Check: Better Left Unsaid?

Communication is generally recognized as being essential to the development of satisfying relationships. I’m not just talking about romantic relationships here. All kinds of relationships: friends, work-related, parent-child, student-teacher, benefit when people can communicate effectively. Did you notice the word … Continue reading

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Reality Check: The Employability Skill of Getting Along… But How?

Last post, I suggested that the skill of “getting along” is essential if you are to succeed in most any workplace. If you find yourself in disputes or isolated from your co-workers, then it may help to work on your … Continue reading

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Reality Check: The Employability Skill of Getting Along

Employability skills are the skills that help you get and keep a job. You might have thought that the technical skills that enable you to do your specific job are all you need in the way of employability skills. For … Continue reading

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Reality Check: Friendly Support

“You can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family!” As we can, indeed, choose our friends, it makes sense that friendship would be supportive, encouraging, and helpful for both people. But that’s not always the case. Some friend … Continue reading

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Reality Check: The Big Sigh

Memorable sayings aren’t always elegant and this one, though a little crude, is also unforgettable: “Assume—it makes an ass of u and me.” Making an assumption doesn’t literally turn you or me into a body part. (I know because I’ve … Continue reading

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Reality Check: The Give and Take of Communication

There are so many communication pitfalls that it’s amazing that we can communicate at all! It’s not that we can’t make ourselves heard, rather, it’s the understanding /being understood part that’s so problematic. Rebecca has a hard time communicating with … Continue reading

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Reality Check: A Sustainable Relationship

Sustainability. It’s a popular word now, and its relevance is not limited to trees and trash. Thinking about sustainability implies thinking long term. For example, consider a sustainably-harvested woodlot. What do you see? Some trees ready for harvest, some left … Continue reading

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