Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash There’s a lot of evidence that positive relationships are the most important factor in our happiness and well-being. And I want to suggest that building meaningful relationships requires intentionality on our part. They don’t happen by magic. Nor do they happen by waiting for others to take the […]

I often hear people say that want to make a meaningful contribution. They want to make a difference to others. And that is what draws them to the field of life coaching and why life coaching is so exciting. For that reason, I’ve just launched a new course to teach you the fundamentals of life […]

I’m offering you, in this article, a peak into a coaching conversation.  I’m doing it for two reasons. First, perhaps you can learn something for your own life from how  coach helps a woman navigate an upsetting set-back. And second, you don’t have to be a professional life coach to help other people. In other […]

In my last post, I talked about four different styles of communication: dominating, accommodating, avoiding, and collaborating. Collaborating means that you’re honest about your own thoughts, feelings, needs, and wants. You’re also willing to show empathy for your partner’s thoughts, feelings, needs, and wants. This is the healthiest of the communication styles and becomes particularly […]

I’ve written a lot of articles, in the last several months, about how to create a happy and loving marriage or relationship with your life partner. A common theme throughout has been the importance of doing things, intentionally and proactively, to foster a climate of positive rather than negative sentiment. Sure, there will always be […]

Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash In my last article I talked about how we respond to one another’s bids. Do we turn toward, away, or against? As we learn to turn towards our partners, we’re putting deposits into their love accounts. Closely related is an idea called “Caring Days” which is a way to […]

In recent weeks I’ve been talking about ways to develop friendship so that positive feelings override the inevitable ups and downs of your marital relationship. In this article I want to move on to another strategy—that of strengthening your relationship by nurturing admiration. The reason this is so important is that a happy marriage is […]

As I pointed out in my last article, one of the characteristics of successful and satisfying relationships is “positive sentiment override.” This means that you have built up enough positive feelings (friendship) towards each other that you’re able to withstand the inevitable disappointments, conflicts, and just plain hard times in your marriage. One way to […]

In this article, I talk about differences between men and women. The purpose is to help you develop more understanding and even appreciation of your partner. So much conflict and alienation couples experience comes from misunderstanding our partner’s intent. Much of this can be reduced as we recognize gender differences. Although there are so many […]

In a recent blog post, I talked about the differences between owning versus disowning responsibility for yourself in your relationship with your partner. I shared a story in which I made myself a victim of Judy until I stopped to think about it and was able to alter my reaction. I went from feeling like […]