Labeling: Good for moving boxes, bad for communication

Just a little bit of a communication hack this month. This is a tool for yourself that keeps communication at the conversation level and prevents it from escalating into an argument, and that is resisting the urge to label.

Something that we do in personal relationships, places where we feel really comfortable with people, is labeling other people’s behavior.

For example, it can be things like labeling somebody as a certain type of person. “You’re overly emotional,” “You’re a cry baby,” “You never listen to me,” or “Nothing I ever do is good enough for you.”

Labeling is unnecessary, unproductive and basically lighter fluid to turn conversations into arguments.

Click here for tips on avoiding labeling.