Tag Archives: Communication in Marriage

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How to Instantly Lower Your Spouse’s Defenses

Little Known Tip to Start a Difficult Conversation

You might remember the Lieutenant Columbo TV series, with Columbo played by Peter Falk? For the uninitiated, Lt. Columbo was that trenchcoat-wearing, cigar-smoking television detective of the Los Angeles Police Homicide Bureau. The show ran off and on from 1971 to 2003.

How to Make Your Spouse Listen to You

Columbo was an exceptionally successful detective. He used his humble ways and ingenuous demeanor to put people at ease, allowing them to open up and tell him things they otherwise wouldn’t. Here’s how this relates to your conversations with your spouse.

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How to Avoid Waking Up Next to a Stranger

The Easy Way to Keep Up with Your Spouse’s Life

Imagine you meet a friend from your youth whom you’ve lost touch with. It’s been years since you saw each other. Sure, it’s a nice surprise and you’re both pleased to meet.

How to Avoid Being Married to a Stranger

But it feels a bit awkward, after so much time. It’s not the same anymore. There’s little to say aside from the usual “Do you have any kids?” or “Where do you work?”

The same thing happens to so many married couples. One day, they wake up and realize that the person lying next to them is a complete stranger.

What happened?

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How to Make Up When Your Spouse is Still Upset

How to Get Things Back Without Making Them Worse

Have you ever tried to apologize, but ended up in a much bigger fight? You wanted to say you were sorry, but then you said something that really set your partner off?

How to apologize to your spouse

Admitting when you’re wrong is hard. Knowing when, and especially how, to apologize earns you appreciation and respect. On the other hand, doing it wrong consistently makes you look like a jerk. It builds resentment, and soon, your partner will probably start behaving the same way. Therefore, this post is not about preventing you from messing things up, but what you can do about it afterwards.

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How to Negotiate With Your Spouse For a Win-Win

Conflict Resolution that Connects Instead of Dividing

It’s often said that marriage is about sacrifice and compromise. That doesn’t sound so great, does it? The reality is, though, that in much of your marriage, you will be in constant agreement to do something, one way or another, with more than a large gray area in between.

How to Negotiate With Your Spouse for a Win-Win

This can be anything from picking where to go out for dinner, to where you will go on vacation this year, and similar things. Or it can mean more serious decisions, like moving across the country because your partner got a promotion, and now you have to leave your friends and family behind. Agreeing to do something, when done properly, can enhance a feeling of connection and harmony, while the opposite leads to frustration, anger, depression, and all sorts of really toxic behaviors.

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How to Receive Complaints and Criticism Gracefully

Proven Way to Handle Negative Feedback From Your Spouse

Say you bought something in a store and it doesn’t work. You call the company’s customer support. Whether you are right or wrong, two scenarios can unfold.

How to deal with criticism

In the first scenario the customer support representative goes into defence mode. Without even knowing the details, they start implying it’s your fault, making you feel like an idiot. In the process, they’re making you angrier by the second. In fact, they are making you feel sorry you bought their product in the first place.

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How to Calmly Resolve Any Disagreement

5 Easy Steps to Staying Connected During an Argument

Do you have disagreements with your spouse? If you do, congratulations! That means your relationship is alive and kicking. All happy couples have conflicts. If you didn’t have any, I’d be worried for you. That’s because when you don’t care enough to disagree, your relationship may just as well be dead.

Marriage Conflict Resolution

In this post you’re going to learn how to express disagreement in a structured and non-threatening way. If you can handle complaints (and even criticism) without feeling attacked, you can turn any disagreement into a connecting exercise that only makes your relationship stronger.

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How to Start a Difficult Conversation

How to Express Negative Feelings Without Harming Your Relationship

Imagine you’re a small business owner. A difficult issue comes up and it involves one of your most valuable customers. You know each other for years and they’ve been there in the good times and the bad times.

5 Tips for Starting a Conversation that You’re Dreading

But something has come up and you need to have a sincere talk with them. So you pick up the phone. Then what?

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The Best Way to Get What You Want in Your Marriage and Beyond

And a Little Known Phenomenon That Gets in a Way

Have you ever been on a diet? Has it ever happened that while you were going toward the fridge, you were telling yourself, “I shouldn’t eat that cake, I really shouldn’t.”

Get What You Want Without Complaining

Then your hand somehow got into the fridge. You actually saw it going in there! You grabbed the plate with the cake, took it out, and ate it. What happened?

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How to Disagree Without Inviting Resentment

A Little Word With Big Consequences

Have you ever met someone who just seemed to end your every thought with “but?” It starts to get annoying, right? It feels like nothing you say is valid, because they know better.

How to disagree with your spouse

It seems that in our society every other sentence contains the word ‘but’. The other person says something, and we soon follow with a big ‘but.’ Beware, though. ‘But’ is a little word with big consequences.

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How to Know What Your Spouse Really Thinks

The 5 Magic Questions and the One You Should Stop Asking Now

Great listeners listen to understand. Lousy ones listen to reply. Here’s another truth. Great listeners also know how to ask so they get a meaningful answer.

How to be a great listener in marriage

In this post you’ll discover how to formulate your questions the right way so you will be able to get your spouse to open up—no matter how distant they feel.