October is my last month working on Relationship Management, and my strategy is “be open and be curious.” From TalentSmart, “Identify a few people you want to know better. Be curious about their lives and their interests. In addition, be more of an open book and share more about yourself.”

Being open means sharing information about myself with others. I am, and always have been, a private person. This blog has been a way for me to get out of my comfort zone and share my feelings and my day-to-day life in a somewhat anonymous way. Even with my friends and family, I am cautious about what I share. This will be a bit of a difficult thing for me to work on this month, as I strive to find the right balance of sharing just enough, and not oversharing (which I have been guilty of in the past). Being curious ties into my previous strategy: “acknowledge the other person’s feelings,” because by showing an interest in another, and actually listening, it builds that relationship and shows the other person that I do care about them.

This will be fun, it’s just the fact that right now, I do not have a lot of opportunity to practice this. I am working on it though, and have found some local events and activities where I can get out of the house, and socialize Little Man for a bit, and interact with other adults. I don’t mind spending time with Squatch and in-laws, but it is nice to talk to others. As a stay-at-home Mummy, I do stay at home a lot, but I am making it a priority to get out of the house 2 or 3 days a week, even if it is just to town for an hour to do story and playtime or to hit up WalMart. Little Man enjoys getting out and is actually liking being in the car now (YAY!!!), and it is good for him to see me interacting with others, so he can learn through my actions.

I have really enjoyed these past two months, and have seen improvements in my relationships already. There are 17 different strategies for relationship management, and I am only working on three of them. By improving just three of these strategies, or skills, I can make a marked increase in the way I approach the different relationships I am in. November, I turn to Self-Awareness, and will have three different strategies to work on through January. Keep an eye out for the next update!