Relationships Archives

Paul Kalanithi’s Parents + Family—Giving His Life Meaning

Who are Paul Kalanithi’s parents and Paul Kalanithi’s family? How did they help him face his cancer diagnosis? Faced with a devastating diagnosis of lung cancer at a young age and just as he was beginning a promising career, Paul Kalanithi believed that he should hold onto who he was, and try to continue to find meaning in his life. Coming from a medical background, Paul Kalanithi’s parents instilled in him a love of books as well. Paul’s love for literature and quest for meaning took place over his whole life, and in When Breath Becomes Air Paul Kalanithi’s family

The Doctor-Patient Relationship: Paul Kalanithi’s Approach

Paul Kalanithi studied both biology and literature, and felt deeply that language was the path to connectivity. Paul’s specific approach to the doctor-patient relationship was one where he tried to understand the person as a whole, and their identity. He called this method human relationality. He applied human relationality as a doctor, and experienced it as a patient with Dr. Emma Hayward. Below, Paul explains how he came back to his view on the doctor-patient relationship after years of overlooking it in favor of statistics and numbers, and how holding onto this philosophy later helped him as a patient.

Autobiographical Listening Hurts Relationships—Here’s Why

While we ideally want to work toward empathic listening methods, we also need to understand some of undesirable listening habits, to make sure we don’t use them in our relationship. Autobiographical Listening is one type of listening we want to learn to avoid. But what is Autobiographical Listening? Autobiographical Listening is any attempt by the listener to make the conversation about them. This is detrimental to relationships. Read more to find out about how to listen and avoid Autobiographical Listening.

Roles and Goals: To Be Successful, Know Who You Are

You have many roles in your life. Some of them are in your personal life and some are in your professional life, but chances are, you can name those roles and what they mean to you. The roles and goals you have for those roles are defined by you and your principles. By creating a mission statement and setting your goals, you can define these roles and goals in your life and give them a greater meaning and purpose.

Emotional Bank Account—6 Examples for Stronger Relationships

So much of our personal growth and effect habits depend on our interactions with others. But how can we foster these relationships? And how can they help us grow and achieve our goals? That’s where Stephen Covey’s concept of an Emotional Bank Account comes in. An Emotional Bank Account is a system of emotional deposits and withdrawals that helps build relationships. You have an emotional bank account in every relationship that’s unique. And by making deposits, or acts of kindness and love, you strengthen it. Acts of cruelty or betrayal are withdrawals, and weaken the relationship. You want to ensure

Listening to Understand—Empathic Listening Builds Strong Relationships

When a friend comes to you with an issue he’s having, how often do you respond with a story about your own similar experience and what you did to resolve it? Or how commonly are you met with this kind of response when you are venting to someone else? We discussed in Habit 4 that an essential step in reaching a Win/Win solution is to try to understand the other person’s perspective and concerns. The key to truly understanding people is empathic listening, which is listening with the intent to see their perspective.

The Circle of Influence: You Control the Outcome

Proactive people focus their time and energy on their Circle of Influence. Why waste your efforts spinning your wheels about concerns you can’t impact? Your Circle of Influence are all the things that you have the power to influence or control. On the other hand, your circle of concern if the things you worry about and can’t control. But by focusing on your Circle of Influence, you can create positive actions and reactions, and apply your values set in everyday life.

Know How to Tell When Someone Is Lying? Science Says You Don’t

Do you know how to tell when someone is lying? Do you think you’re good at it? What does science tell us about our ability to accurately tell when someone is lying? Science says we’re not very good at how to tell when someone is lying. Learn when you’re better at it, and what red herrings throw you off course.

How to Tell If Someone Is Lying—Is Body Language the Key?

Do you know how to tell if someone is lying through their body language? Is body language really the key to detecting a lie? We’ll cover why it’s hard to learn how to spot a liar through body language and what signals to watch for (and why mismatching might throw you off).

How to Build Healthy Friendships: Get a Growth Mindset

What is the secret to developing healthy friendships? What if you’re shy? What if there are problems in your friendship–is it a lost cause? Should you throw in the towel? The secret to healthy friendships is the secret to healthy relationships in general: having a growth mindset. We’ll cover how a growth mindset can help you create and maintain healthy friendships and help you deal with your shyness.