#80 – Stay Curious

This week is about staying curious instead of furious. In every relationship we go through a time of irritation, annoyance, hurt feelings. This week is about not assuming you understand what the other person is thinking and feeling. It may come as a shock, but no 2 people think the same way in every situation 

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The Easy Challenge: Check your assumptions in situations you are not fully happy with. Ask them, “What did you mean by that?” Or “Why do you feel that way?” And then actually really listen to the answer. This is how we grow as a person and friend.

The Medium Challenge: Think of a situation where you don’t want to do something. Now think about really why you don’t want to do it. Maybe it’s a get together every week that you would rather go once a month, but you feel guilty. Invite your curiosity to see what emotions come up and why.

The Hard Challenge: Actually practice curiosity in conflict. Example from the book is where she was working on an almost finished project & IT said they had to revert back a section to an old school method. She completely shut them down, but her teammate went over & discussed with IT and they came up with a solution that would benefit both. It’s about taking the extra effort to be curious to understand the other point of view and find a happy place together.