Should You Criticize Someone You Love?

Very few people enjoy criticizing others. If you’re like me and very empathetic, you can even feel the pain of others as you criticize them (not to mention your own), so you naturally avoid it. I believe you need to criticize those you love, though. Here’s why. If you don’t criticize their behavior toward you, you’ll likely break up with them (or vice versa).

If they never know where they stand with you, how can they make the necessary changes to get back on track? So, more than merely keeping the peace, criticizing someone’s behavior (not them) can be essential to maintaining a healthy relationship. Remember, it’s not how much you argue that matters, it’s how you argue and what you get done in those arguments that matter.

So, by avoiding criticizing the behaviors of those we love, we can actually be setting ourselves up for a breakup…

Try it. Try respectfully, but firmly stating your stance on something you dislike that your loved one does and see what happens…

Jeff