Making effective requests of others or ourselves requires clarity and a connection to the feelings and needs that are alive in you and the specific context in which they arose. Brainstorming requests also requires a sense of flexibility or openness to a variety of ways in which your needs could be met.
I notice that even when students of Compassionate Communication (NVC training) really get this, they still have difficulty making requests.
There are often judgemental inner voices getting in the way. Take a look at the list below and see if you have said any of these things to yourself:
“I don’t want to be a burden for others.”
“What if I ask for something and then it actually doesn’t meet my needs? I want to make the right request.”
“It’s not okay for me to want what I want.”
“I can’t have everything. I should just be happy with what is.”
“I don’t trust that this person would really want to help me.”
“They won’t care about my needs.”
“I should be able to do it on my own.”
“It’s too much to ask.”
“I don’t want to be selfish.”
Sound familiar?
In working with these voices you might first offer yourself some empathy.
For example, are you hearing yourself say, “It’s not okay for me to want what I want”? You might be feeling tense and needing self-acceptance. Like all of us, you have likely received a lot of messages that it’s not okay to have needs (that’s just being needy). You may want to spend a few moments each day looking at the needs list (note from Nigel: see my resouce page for a printable list) and affirming that having and acknowledging needs is part of being fully human.
Hearing yourself say, “It’s too much to ask”? You might be feeling concern because it’s important to you to consider the needs of others as well as your own. When you make a request you may want to let the other person know how important it is to you that they say yes to your request only if it really works for them.
Another important point in working with these obstacles is to remember that the single most fun thing for humans to do is to contribute to life. You might be saying, “If that’s the case, why doesn’t my daughter help around the house?”
People love to contribute when the need and request are clear and when they know they are freely choosing to do so.
This became very clear to me when I broke my leg. A cast and crutches were very clear indicators about the needs that were up for me. The actions that would help me were also pretty obvious. This made it fun and easy for people to give. I had almost constant help and support. It really showed me how much people love giving.
Your needs and requests are a gift to others. When you allow others to give to you, you help meet their need for contribution – the joy of giving.
Challenge yourself to make three requests this week. And of course remember the basics about effective requests:
- Clearly connected to needs
- Do-able: a request answers these questions – What? Who? Where? When? How long? How often?
- Ask for what you want rather than what you don’t want. For example, “I’m needing consideration and predictability. Would you be willing to call if you are going to be more than five minutes late for future meetings?” Rather than, “Please don’t be late to our meetings.”
- Let the other person know that you would like them to say yes to your request only if it is in harmony with their own needs.
Feel free to start your request practice with little ones that are easier for you to make.
Source: Based on an NVC Gem by LaShelle Lowe-Charde http://www.wiseheartpdx.org/