Most of us need to have a difficult conversation with someone that we have been avoiding. What is that conversation for you? Who do you need to have it with? Don’t carry that burden with you into Christmas and the New Year. The time to have that conversation is now.
Welcome back to Best Christmas Ever! Where we are exploring 28 Ways to Make this Your Best Christmas Ever!
#13 is… Have that difficult conversation.
How long have you been avoiding it for? How much stress, worry, and anxiety has that brought to your life? When should you have had the conversation? Is there a valid reason to put it off? And perhaps most importantly, how will you feel once you have this difficult but necessary conversation?
You have three options:
1. Continue to avoid the conversation and suffer the consequences,
2. Have the conversation in a clumsy and unintentional way and suffer the consequences, or
3. Improve all the relationships in your life by learning how to have difficult conversations.
If option #3 is calling to you, the first step is to get clear about what you hope the conversation will accomplish. Do you simply need to be heard? Or is there an outcome you desire? This clarity will drive intentionality. It will also help you keep the conversation to its appropriate length. When difficult conversations are too long or too short, they tend to fail. The second step is to schedule the conversation at the right time and the right place. The wrong time is when you are tired and distracted. The right place is where you can have a conversation without distractions and interruptions.
Have the difficult conversation you have been putting off before Christmas. It will help you have your best Christmas ever!
Matthew Kelly
Watch the video!