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In All Seriousness

Words Matter

In this week’s episode, Tony was offended by Jill saying that she has trained him to change a few of his habits. He agreed, however, that partners can teach each other. In short, training and teaching were interchangeable for Jill, but not for Tony.

He told listeners that if you are in a relationship with someone who says you have been trained by them, respond to them in a calm manner that the word “trained” is incorrect.

Meanwhile, Jill encouraged listeners to help each other grow. If you use certain words that offend your partner, use other words.

Together, they have more advice:

• Let your partner know what upsets you, but make sure you do it in a loving way
• Listen to each other
• Recognize that compromises are intended to be win-win outcomes

What do you think about conditioning your partner to change behaviors that suit you better? Leave your answers in the comments section. Let us know what topics you’d like to hear us tackle.