Improve Communication

People-pleasing is often so unconscious that we don’t know we’re damaging our relationships. Here’s why it’s important to recognize and stop it…

Annette was stuck. She felt like she’d been a pushover all her life in her family growing up and now it was the same with her new husband. In the past, when she’d tried to stand up for herself, she felt like she either came

Monica silently ground her teeth as she once again tried to please everyone in her family and believe that inner voice that shamed her if she didn’t. Her thoughts ran something like this… “I should take dinner to my mom because she’s lonely.” “I should

Incompatibility interferes with most relationships at one time or another but what is it really? One of Susie’s coaching clients had a beautiful insight after one of our coaching sessions that nailed it in our opinion… “I’ve been thinking a lot yesterday about incompatibility as

When you hit a solid wall of a difference of opinion with someone, it’s very easy to lapse into old habits and ways of trying to make your point that haven’t worked in the past. You might… –Spew out a lot of words and reasons

Expectations–We all have them. We have expectations of ourselves that can sound limiting like this… –“I could never do that! That’s above my paygrade!” Or our expectations of ourselves can run on the positive side like this… –“Doing that will be a piece of cake

There was about a two week window of time after I told my first wife I was leaving her that was totally real, raw and vulnerable. Most of the time, I’d just as soon forget all the stuff that happened before (and after) that caused

Many of us grow up thinking that “vulnerable” is a dirty word and a sign of weakness. We’re taught we have to protect ourselves and be safe from physical and emotional harm by holding back our true feelings. We don’t want to hurt the other

As Judy mulled over what her sister had said, she felt hurt and very angry. In planning a family reunion on zoom, her sister who Judy had always been close to… Abruptly told Judy that she didn’t care what happened at the reunion and left

As the paralyzing fear of confrontation built inside her, Paula found herself once again lying to her husband. She knew it was wrong, but couldn’t stop doing what she’d done her whole life with everyone she’d been close to. When she sensed the other person