Is this going to be good for our relationship?

Recently, I was listening to the Ten Percent Happier Podcast with Dan Harris. In this particular podcast, Harris was interviewing The Happiness Project author, Gretchen Rubin. She said something that resonated with me. I don't remember the exact context, but she posed the following question.

Is this going to be good for our relationship?

Now more than ever, how often do we find ourselves pressing our children to do something that we've asked of them? Our intentions come from a good place. We want them to be productive; we want them to be self-starters. Ultimately, we want them to be successful. That's not how it is perceived, though. Nagging. That is how it is perceived. We have to be careful; we have to tread lightly.

We should always be asking ourselves, is this going to be good for our relationship.

This idea stretches beyond the here and now circumstances of "homeschooling," working from home, and our global pandemic of COVID. It shouldn't matter if it is our children, or our students; our spouses, significant others, and family members, or our colleagues. Put your ego aside. Preserve the relationship, at all costs.

Let this question be our North Star. Now, as we navigate through this pandemic, and always. Because if there is no relationship, nothing else matters.