difficult conversations

, ,

Drop some truth to create a breakthrough

, ,

“You wanna know why you’re hurting so much when we workout, Andrea? Because you’re doing the bare minimum,” my personal trainer said to me. I was hurtin’ bad after a few too many jumping jacks (300 to be exact) and I wanted to hobble across the gym and choke him with whatever strength I had left.

I was ticked off. But, I knew in my heart, that he was right. I’ve been dragging my feet – quite literally – when it comes to eating well, sleeping and exercising. And, oh I have so many excuses but they all lead to one truth: I’m not doing the work. Plain and simple. I needed him to help me see that.

Sometimes, people need to hear some truth in order to breakthrough something really big that’s holding them back. But, telling people we love some cold-hard truth can be really challenging. Here’s how to do it:

,

How to say "I don't know" (and not feel defensive or stupid)

,

As brilliant as we all are – yeah, I said it, homie – sometimes, we have to say that we don’t know an answer to something. This oh-so-vulnerable moment comes up in meetings, during news interviews or job interviews, and sometimes in the middle of heated conversations.

So, how do you actually say, “I don’t know,” without feeling like a jerk? All it takes is a little “STEP”…here’s how:

7 Ways to Have a Good Conversation with a Difficult Person

I wanted to reach across the desk and choke the life from my boss as she threw down the tattered “big girl” dress onto my desktop while proclaiming, “I’m sorry I made you stay late last night. Here’s a little something you might like. It doesn’t fit me after I lost all this weight.”

“You @!$*&,” I thought.

This true story happened when I worked for my least-favorite boss of all time! We all encounter people who get our blood boiling, demean, dismiss or otherwise incite an internal riot in us. We call them jerks, difficult people…miserable messes. Unfortunately, we find them at work, in our families and everywhere in-between.

For selfish reasons, here’s why it’s not smart to get into it with someone you really don’t like: