12th February 2019
There is an excellent book called The Five Languages of Love. The observation is that humans give and receive love in five ways:
- Words of affirmation
- Acts of service
- Giving gifts
- Spending quality time
- Physical touch
Expressing our love in a form the other person does not value is “alien”. Getting it right is “sunshine”.
Every act you do for a loved one can be categorised in four ways. Was it proactive or reactive? Was it expressed as s/he likes it? Reactive/Alien; Reactive/Sunshine; Proactive/Alien and Proactive/Sunshine.
How often do you proactively organise time to spend with a loved one? How do you know that the way you show your love is the way s/he likes to receive it?
For a great relationship we want Proactive/Sunshine! Proactively expressing love in a way the other person values.
This can be expanded outside of love, to business and the workplace. You just need to tweak the categories.
Next week’s article will be about applying this in the workplace.
Abraham Goldberg
