Conversations on the Couch: Micro-dosing Maureen & Zelle

Smart phones, furniture, your favorite pair of jeans – all benefit from great design. Your relationships are no different. We typically fall into relationship patterns rather than designing what truly fits the people and the purpose of being together.  How many of these signs are you feeling in your relationship right now, whether that’s at work or at home? The purpose has changed You want more connection What's next is foggy You're playing it safe What's worked in the past is no longer working A major change is approaching You want to make a bigger impact

Relationships, whether business or personal, are really just a dance. We’re always trying to figure out how to support or engage the other person. But because we're often making assumptions, and pulling files from the filing cabinet of our own mind, we often step on each others toes because we don’t have all the information. The most powerful thing to do in a relationship is to have a conversation around invitations and boundaries. Much like a highway, there are on ramps and exit ramps. The highway is brilliant because the boundary means that I don't have to stop at every corner. But there are also invitations to come and go, which is brilliant too and very necessary to keep everything in flow. When we create invitations and boundaries in our relationships we can reduce the stress of uncertainty and be more likely to offer someone the support that will really help them connect.

When we begin a relationship, we either mindfully or inadvertently create a Relationship Container—the definition, characteristics and agreements we step into. When a relationship feels the weight of stress, it's typically a sign that the relationship container needs to be mindfully re-designed.

The story of Maureen and Zelle's commitment to ask for everything from one another 100% of the time, while making the commitment to saying a truthful yes or no to the ask 100% of the time. It creates true freedom in a relationship and stops a lot of the stress and judgment that happens in any relationship.