You’ve probably heard that men like a woman who can be easygoing and fun
to be with. And that’s entirely true, especially when you’re talking
about men who handle a lot of pressure at work. But this doesn’t mean
you need to be a pushover. Read on to find out how you can make it easy
for him to be with you…without losing what’s important to you.
HOW HUMAN NATURE CAN WORK AGAINST YOU
Everyone
wants to have their needs met first. It’s basic human nature. But being
able to delay your gratification is an amazing thing to develop in your
life (and that goes for every part of your life, not just dating). Most
people (men and women) want to talk, talk, talk about what they think
and what they want. The root of most communication problems lies in NOT
considering the other side.
If you want a man to listen to you and communicate well with you, then you need to honestly and critically consider the man’s perspective, his emotional state, his communication skills and where he’s coming from…all at the same time. Here’s the thing…
PUTTING YOURSELF IN HIS SHOES WORKS FOR BOTH OF YOU
When
you don’t do this with a man, and don’t consider things from his
perspective, in the same way you want him to consider yours, you are
subconsciously telling him that you’re more interested in your feelings
and what YOU want than you are in his feelings and what he wants.
I
see a form of this all the time in business, by the way. Say somebody
wants to sell me something. If they immediately lunge in with their
agenda, it will likely put me on the defensive. But if they’ve done
their “homework” on me and what I’m looking for, instead of coming from a
place of need about what they want from me…the whole situation changes
the second they show me they’ve thought about what I want. It’s very
simple…but extremely powerful.
SHIFTING TO TEAM-BASED THINKING
So let’s take this concept directly back to communicating with a man. Namely,
you’ve got to learn to listen and understand where he’s at and where
he’s coming from. Patience, empathy and understanding are the first
steps towards creating the relationship you dream about with another
person who has his own dreams, desires, and frustrations.
Say
your boyfriend has a habit of zoning out when he gets home, and you’d
like to go out a few nights a week. You can start with an affirming
statement like, “I really care about our relationship, and I want us
both to be happy.”
When you lead like this, he won’t feel the
need to be defensive. You’ll have created a safe space for him to
listen. Then you can say: “I understand you’re really tired sometimes
and just want to zone out, but I just need to have some nights during
the week when we can do something together.” Then you come up with an
event you both like rather than focusing on the negative. When you do
this, he’ll begin to see you two as a team – and that’s a win-win for
both of you.
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