Relationship negotiation doesn’t sound very romantic or sexy, but it is the foundation of lasting love. Without strong, conscious relationship negotiating skills, couples are bound for conflict, fighting, and frustration. Here are four principles of relationship negotiation.
Relationship Negotiation Principle 1:Â Fairness Is What You Create, Not What You Deserve
Many people believe that life is supposed to be fair. If “the rules” are followed, if we eat our vegetables, if we are nice, and work hard, somehow we will be rewarded for our goodness.
In relationships, the myth is if I am nice, loving, kind, and affectionate, my partner will do the same for me. Sadly, this myth is a lie told to us in childhood to make us behave like good little children.
Life is not fair, and you are not entitled to fairness.
There, I said it.
If you want to be treated fairly, you have to work at it. Fairness is not some gift bestowed by your fairy godmother.
On other hand, a good life is not about grabbing everything you can for yourself to the exclusion of everyone else. That’s not fair either, to you or to those around you.
There has to be a balance, and balance is created through relationship negotiation.
Fairness is what you create, not what you think you are entitled to because you are good person.
Principle 2:Â You Have to Ask for What You Want
As infants and small children, we could not ask for what we needed. We could only make a lot of noise to get someone’s attention. It was up to someone else to figure out whether we needed a diaper change or a bottle. Miraculously, Mom or Dad appeared and took care of us.
While we learned to negotiate many other aspects of our lives as adults, we were not taught how to ask for what we needed and wanted in relationships. Instead, we carry a belief our unspoken needs that oure partner will instantly recognize and satisfy us.
Of course, when that doesn’t happen, we feel rejected, frustrated, unloved, and neglected.
The principle is you have to ask for what you want in your relationship. Whatever it is you want is not going to appear out of the blue. If you don’t make your needs known to your partner, don’t expect him or her to read your mind. This is an infantile belief, not an adult belief. Get rid of it.
Principle 3: Don’t Be Afraid of “No”
The corollary to having the courage to ask for what you want is having the courage to accept “No” with grace. Just because you ask, doesn’t mean that you get.
You must give your partner free choice without guilt-tripping him or her into capitulating to you. If you ask for a hug and your partner says, “No,” you have a great opportunity to find out why. Maybe the timing is not right. Maybe the place is not right. Maybe your partner is in another mind-set at the moment.
Your best response is not to get angry or feel rejected, but to negotiate. If not now, how about hug in 15 minutes.
“No” is usually never the final answer. The secret is to welcome a “No” as an opportunity to negotiate something better later.
Most importantly, “No” is rarely a rejection of you. If you take the time to find out what is going on, you will learn that the “No” is all about your partner, and not about you.
Principle 4: Doormats Are For Dirty Feet
Relationships are about power. When couples feel like the power is balanced, the relationship tends to be happier and more fulfilling. When one or the other partner feels disempowered, the relationship is in difficulty.
Do not allow yourself to be a doormat. If your desire for love, attachment, and bonding is so great you suppress your own needs, you are in deep trouble. Learn how to take care of your needs by having the courage to say “No.”
This is the flip-side of Principle 3: Don’t be afraid to say “No” when you need to.
Be prepared for anger and rejection and question the maturity of the relationship if your partner throws a tantrum.
I appreciate the directness and simplicity of these 4 points. I’ve achieved some of these some of the time, after years of self-study and ongoing recovering from experiences growing up in my family…
I would add three essential ingredients that make these 4 steps possible: humility, patience, and respect. In spite of the relentless drumbeat of social media, entitlement has no place here. But neither, as you point out, does acting like a doormat. And I do not include “love,” whatever that means. All of the above add up to love in the true sense.
Thanks for your comment Penny. You don’t have to be a doormat in any relationship. The secret is learning about your emotions. the insights will help you implement these 4 rules of negotiation in relationships. True relationship happiness is possible if you have the courage to grow.
… in point #1; Fairness is what you Create; not what you Deserve … I find that with me, there is a kind of amorphous fog around the first fact, that our Creative energies should be developed towards creating fairness for ourselves; this implies to me to become very self-knowledgeable … deeply mining yourself for your mother lode of natural gifts, abilities, & talents that can be developed; talents being in the realm of Loves Equity … as in the Bible parable of the three who were given a talent each & each invested as best as they knew how; with the outfall of the third who received a talent, but buried it in the ground, then returned it when called for … the other two had learned how to invest & grow their talent, to virtuously blossom into modest wealth … Loves Equity also implies in the financial metaphor, a very real kind of bond, amalgamation, of shared vision, & assets, and a ‘good fit’ as two pieces of a puzzle that come together … saying, ‘ah, yes’ … yes, this is it … this is Fair … as to the second half of the second statement, that we should always be expectant to receive what we deserve, even though we’ve suffered a lifetime of gross ignorance, & neglect … being left out of an Inheritance, to not being paid over-time, to going un-recognized by years of dedicated service … this kind of thing is still prevalent enough in our world & can be experienced in every strata society … & yes, I guess I’m still a hopeless romantic, but, I’ve had my share of Fairy God-Mother & God-parent moments to still make me a Believer … as for # 2 … I’ve not had a relationship of the kind described, but do absolutely believe you must be fearless in making your needs known … # 3 … yes, do be prepared for ‘no’s’ … often the ‘no’ is just a verbal hurdle … sometimes a pole-vault … but, in the Olympics of life, success can be the achievable Dream … #4 … yes, Doormat … I am a mere shredded threadbare doormat, which has now been put out to pasture as DIY for use under the boot scraper … no seriously, not that bad, but I’ve been very down-trodden & morbidly self-sacrificing … this is no way to live … whereas doormats are very practical & essential, they need care & attention to remain in optimum condition… & often you might find that their material qualities would have been better served as a warm, cozy Quilt or wind buffer Tapestry … but, no, I’ve digressed here, but doormats in the context of relationship; are not acceptable.