Grapevine Magazine

HAVE YOU EVER felt overwhelmed, frustrated, alone, stressed, desperate, stuck or even bored in your relationships? Do you wish your connections with your spouse, significant other, kids, family, friends, clients or co-workers were better?
Whether your relationship is mediocre and you want to make it better, or you’re at your wit’s end and ready to throw in the towel, we’d all like to make improvements! But wanting good relationships is only the beginning … and building great relationships requires a few skills!
Thankfully, improving our relationships isn’t as daunting as it sounds – and according to Susie Albert Miller, it can be done in 30 days or less! She’s a speaker, coach, consultant and author … and is committed to helping everyday people thrive in their most personal and professional relationships.
We sat down with Susie to chat about her book Listen, Learn, Love and get her insights into how we can significantly fix those connections … and fast!
GRAPEVINE: What prompted you to write ‘Listen, Learn, Love’?
SUSIE ALBERT MILLER: I found myself repeating the same advice with my clients and realised that if I could get this message out to a wider audience, people would have the tools to begin to communicate and connect better.
Talkers & Drivers
We’re taught a lot of valuable things as we grow up, but we’re seldom taught how to communicate well. And people don’t always recognise their weakness as communicators. It’s a little like how people who don’t drive well still think of themselves as being good behind the wheel!
I realised that I needed to improve my driving years ago when I began transporting my little kids around – so I identified the gaps in my skills, and worked at becoming a better driver.
I feel the same way about communication. I’m a good communicator now because I’ve worked at it. And ‘Listening, Learning and Loving’ are three simple, elegant skills to help people become better communicators. My goal was to make it a quick-and-easy read – I wanted to share things I think will make the biggest impact in peoples’ relationships. From relationships in the home … to friendships … to business and the workplace.
GRAPEVINE: What’s at the heart of a good relationship?
SUSIE: The ability to feel safe and seen. We want to know that we’re still going to be loved and accepted even if we’re known completely: our weaknesses … our frustrations … our struggles. None of us want to have to pretend to be someone different or to constantly have to edit ourselves – like thinking, for example, “Oh, I can’t say that, or they’ll get angry.” Because those worries begin to govern how we engage with others.
Truly good relationships are where we genuinely feel seen, known and heard. Relationships where we can say, “I’m having a hard time”, or “I’ve had some news that’s really knocked me. I don’t need you to fix it, but I need someone to understand me …”
And the best relationships are interdependent.
***Read the rest of the article on our website – just search ‘listen learn love’***

Listen, Learn, Love - Grapevine Magazine Have you ever felt overwhelmed, frustrated, alone, stressed, desperate, stuck or even bored in your relationships? Do you wish your connections with your spouse, significant other, kids, family, friends, clients or co-workers were better? Whether your relationship is mediocre and you want to make it...