Estimated read time: 2 minutes.
Avoid conflict! Get both! (Ignore my messy bed.)
I hear from my clients that conflict makes their stomachs hurt or makes them want to pretend they never saw it in the first place.
Conflict? What conflict? Did you see conflict around here?
Among many weird things about me, one is that I LOVE conflict (so much so that I used to volunteer as a mediator in small claims court).Are you on the LOVE it or HATE it end of conflict?
Here's some reasons I love conflict: There's creativity in conflict. There's heat. Conflict leads to cleared air, closer relationships, and more trust. Even if conflict causes separation, there's clarity in the dissolution. You're clear as you walk away and not stuck for years making up stories about what happened.
All this only works if conflict gets handled openly and strategically. Avoiding conflict isn't going to lead to more trust even though through your closed eyes and earnest prayers, you wish it would.
Here are two, actually, it ended up being three, easy to implement strategies to help turn conflict into something that works for you:
- Shift your mindset about conflict. Start to see the creative power in disagreement. See the opportunities for ideas to get bigger and for you to learn about yourself.
- Prioritize your relationships. When your relationships are on solid ground, they can withstand conflict. Even big conflict.
- Find your places of alignment. Every fiber of your being in conflict wants to focus on the disagreement and on being right. (Notice the word is alignment, not agreement). Here's a light-hearted example to illustrate the point:
Say that you want to get a cat and your family wants to get a dog. Very quickly, you can end up in your respective corners taking a stand for CAT! DOG! Instead, experiment with finding where you share alignment - like having a family pet, wanting something to snuggle, maybe having a pet that feels easy to your family. From there it's easier to navigate toward a mutually acceptable solution.
Conflict is creative. Really and truly. Give these tips a try and let me know what happens!
I hope this helps.
Christina
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