Friendly Fire. How to manage your emotions.

In communication, as in the theatre of war, you can become the victim of "Friendly Fire".

Friendly fire is by definition, the stray rounds of ammunition, shrapnel, fire and brimstone that are not intended for you, but for an external or even imagined enemy.

And when you are communicating with someone, especially if it is someone close to you (you know what they say: 'you always hurt, the one you love'...) you actually don't mean to hurt them, it's just that they are there when you lash out verbally.....

When you communicate with a loved one, it's really imperative that you manage your emotions so there are no victims of friendly fire. You don't want to hurt anyone, so why don't you take a couple of precautions to make sure there are no injuries?

Here's a couple of precautions:

• Set some rules - Fighting Fair
• Try and Place your listener when you are going to communicate something controversial
• Slow your voice pace down - speaking slowly helps you stop your emotions from boiling over
• Get really clear about what your outcome is - write down what your pleasurable end result will be - make it as positive as possible.

Good luck with this - preparation always helps you create the outcome you really want. Let me know how you are going with this!