Achieving true happiness and success depends on many factors, but none really more important than what other people can do to help us right??? YES!

I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for some awesome people in my life giving me advice, getting my foot in the door, telling me I’m screwing up, and of course supporting me in pursuing my dreams (thank you honey!). It’s absolutely mandatory we possess successful relationship skills to take our lives to the next level of abundance.

Q: So, what is the main ingredient to having successful relationships?

A: They MUST be mutually beneficial!

If you’re constantly taking from people and never giving guess what? You’ll wear out your welcome faster than Jesse James at Sandra Bullock’s parents house!

You see, when relationships no longer provide value we must begin the evaluation process to determine our best course of action for us right? However, in some situations we become hesitant to end a relationship because we are afraid of what it’ll do to the other person. Ask yourself, have you ever second guessed ending a friendship or intimate relationship because you thought the other person wouldn’t be able to handle it? Yes, of course! Feelings of guilt set in and you decided to keep trying or to settle for now until there was a better time.

Has anyone ever ended a relationship with you that came out of nowhere? Depending on the situation, chances are pretty dang good you were crushed and your mind became flooded with thoughts of “what will I do now?” Or “how can I go on without so and so?” Guess what…by the mere fact you’re reading this means you survived didn’t you? Yes!! And, you went through some tough times, but through it all you are now a stronger person right?

You might say at this point “Christopher…yeah I survived, but I’m never going to let my heart open to anyone like that again…it sucked!” Well, here is a very important point to having truly awesome and successful relationships:

You CANNOT blame people in your present or future for what anyone in your past did to you!

You’ve had good haircuts and bad haircuts, but ya never stopped getting your hair cut did ya? NO!

Can you imagine how many truly loving and trusting people are out there who have been kicked to the curb because someone was afraid to love and trust again? Should we be guarded in some situations? Yes. Should we communicate our apprehensions to the other person? Yes. However, what we need to remember is that each person who steps into our life is meant to be there at that time and place. Remember, when one window opens you either jump out of it or enjoy the breeze it offers

Life is a journey not a destination!

Upcoming posts in this series will include:

• Hearing Vs. Listening
• Speaking Vs. Talking
• Body Language – Am I Really Saying That???
• How To Manage Expectations – Yours & Theirs!
• The Ego – Getting Around It
• Happy Or Right? Which Is Better?
• No One Is Allowed In - The Guard Is Up
• How To Craft The Best Apology
• Dealing With Vulnerability
• Self Defense: React Versus Respond
• Understand Then To Be Understood
• Walk A Mile In Another’s Shoes – The Conditioning Process

But wait – there’s MORE! We’ll also talk about:

• Guilt
• Worry
• Trust
• Acceptance
• Judgment
• Patience
• Compromise
• Respect (earned versus implied)
• Hurt
• Betrayal
• Stubbornness
• Arguments
• Forgiveness

And…Much MORE!

In closing, whether it’s your boss, your spouse, your kids, the salesperson, or anyone else – you’ll quickly discover how to have AWESOME RELATIONSHIPS!

Until next time, please keep those cards and letters rolling in!

All my best,

Christopher