Is my behaviour taking me closer to or further away from family wellbeing?
This video introduces a straightforward but impactful idea: asking ourselves, "Is what I'm doing bringing my family closer together or driving us apart?" By regularly stopping to think about this question, we can see how our actions affect our relationships with our partners and children. The video stresses the importance of staying positive and treating each other with respect to make our families happier and healthier. Viewers are encouraged to try this reflective exercise for a week to make their family life better.
A man speaks:
Think about the last time you went to the doctor, and your doctor prescribes a medication. If you read on the packet what the drug was intended to do and what the side effects would be...
Nothing is neutral. Every interaction we have with other people is the same. How we behave around others will always have an impact either in a positive or negative way.
So... I want to introduce to you, a key idea. Having a tool or an idea that can support our behaviour is really helpful. It can measure how we are going against an idea. A key idea...is about the idea of a big question. The question is...is this taking me closer to, or further away, from family wellbeing. Pausing and asking ourselves a question helps us to think about what we are doing.
If I'm having negative thoughts about my partner, then that may well be taking me further away from family wellbeing. If I'm thinking about my partner in respectful ways, for example, using their proper name, then this will be taking me closer towards family wellbeing.
The power of this question... 'Is this taking me closer to, or further away from family wellbeing?' allows us to pause and consider how our thinking and behaviour is impacting any particular moment. If our behaviour is taking us further away from family wellbeing, then this gives us the opportunity to stop, pause, and re-think how we should think and behave going forward.
Your challenge is that over the next week, stop and ask yourself the question around any behaviour that you are doing with your partner and children. Is my behaviour taking me closer to, or further away, from family wellbeing? If it is taking you closer to family wellbeing, then do more of the same. If it is taking you further away from family wellbeing, change direction.