Disappointed? Design Your Relationship for the Sake of Improving It.

Disappointments are directly related to differences in expectations. Have you ever assumed your husband would take out the trash and he didn’t? Have you ever expected your staff to complete a project but she didn’t? Most times, relationships that suffer from disappointments don’t set out WANTING to disappoint each other; it stems from not having designed your relationship from the beginning. The good news is that it’s never too late.

Designing your relationship or alliance with anyone in your life can be difficult AND have the rewards be worth every bit of the difficult moments. If your relationship with your family member, friend, staff, client, or supplier means something to you, try these simple yet powerful tips in your next conversation.

• Start sentences with “I” rather than “you”
• Check your assumptions by saying “When this happens, I feel that this is your intention. Is that true?” This helps you from jumping to conclusions
• Ask directly for what you need, even if it seems blatantly obvious. It looks something like this. “In order for this to work for me, I need….”
• Context the conversation by saying that you want to design your relationship because it’s important to you
• Ask for confirmation of mutual understanding at the end of your conversation by saying “So, will you complete project A, by this date?” and give the same courtesy in return

Often times, this step of designing relationships is skipped over and more severe measures are taken that could be avoided i.e. staff terminations, massive family fights, etc. This step is important if you think a relationship is going off course. Be brave and give us a call if you need help preparing yourself for one!.

Be Curious, Be First, Belong - Be One of the First 30 to sign up as an e-Spot™ Founding Member

As many of you know, enSpire Coaching’s Grace Attard has created a new, coaching community for entrepreneurs called the e-Spot™. It is a membership-based club, with 3000 square foot of loft-style working space for meeting, networking, working and learning.

We invite you to take the plunge and help start a community of entrepreneurs in Mississauga/Halton. Save $200 on initiation and take advantage of these great benefits, even before the e-Spot™ opens….

For only $69/month, get a free business coaching session (valued at $200) and be invited to an EXCLUSIVE PRE-LAUNCH e-Spot™ PARTY for Founding Members only!

Imagine the high loft ceilings, the warm ambient light, the cool decor, healthy treats from the energy bar and most importantly, imagine feeling like you belong to a place where there are other entrepreneurs just like you. Sign up quick by emailing us. We’re offering this to the first 30 people who sign up and we only have 9 founding member spots left and it ends as soon as we open (in December)!

Personal Reflection

My daughter Kaitlin asked me a few weeks ago “Mom – what do you really want for your birthday?” and it dawned on me that there is something really scary about REALLY saying what you want. What crossed my mind were thoughts like “dinner out, birthday cake, family hike, getting together with friends” AND what I felt after thinking those thoughts were “yes, that’s nice but it’s not what I really, really want”. So I took Kait’s question deeper – what would feed me? What would I dare to ask for that would make me so so happy? And I realized it was to just spend time with my dear dear friend Julie from Chicago. So I called Julie and asked her to be my birthday present and she flew in for the weekend! We did all the things we love this weekend– ate sushi, drank wine, went to yoga, had spa treatments, hung out with my family and just got caught up on our joys, our struggles, our lives. THAT is what I’m did for my birthday and I couldn’t be happier. Thank you to my family for flying her up and thank you to Julie for coming…I’m so glad I really thought about what I wanted and didn’t hold back.